House of Reunion
by Bionic Egypt
Summary: It's been ten years since the residents of Anubis House have seen each other, and quite a few things have changed, though the former Sibunas realize some things never do. An old enemy is back for revenge, and only by sacrificing the two artifacts they found while in school will Nina and Eddie be able to save their lives. Can the former Sibunas remember how to save their friends?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: House of Graduation

Nina

"And now, the residents of Anubis House!" Mr. Sweet announced to the crowd. "Alfred Lewis."

Alfie jogged up onto the stage and accepted the rolled-up diploma from the older man. I saw Amber give him a thumbs-up, and everyone laughed as Alfie cried out "I DID IT!"

"Amber Millington." Amber, with her sequined-and-rhinestoned graduation gown, walked onto the stage and accepted her diploma from Mr. Sweet. As she sat back down, she mumbled about how the ribbon on the paper should've been pink. It was so . . . Amber.

"Eddie Miller." When Eddie came on stage, everyone let out a laugh. On the back of his tacky red robe was a piece of paper, likely taped on there by Patricia. In huge, bold letters, the name "Eddison Sweet" was written.

Next was Fabian's turn. When Mr. Sweet called out his name, my heart filled with pride for my geeky boyfriend. Fabian had gotten valedictorian, and was the only one in the room wearing an orange robe. God, he looked tacky, but it was kind of cute.

And so the graduation went. Jerome, Joy, and Mara all walked up the steps with confidence, all accepting their graduate status with grace. Next it was my turn.

As Mr. Sweet called out my name, I felt butterflies going kamikaze in my stomach. I walked onto the stage, my gaze flickering around the room. Oh god, I couldn't do this. The thought would've made me laugh if I wasn't so nervous. Since when was I, Nina Martin, afraid of anything? I had faced crazed, immortal-life-seeking lunatics and ghosts who wanted to become gods. Why was I afraid of graduating?

My eyes met with Fabian's, who held my gaze. I watched him mouth 'You're doing great' to me, and I suddenly felt better. If someone believed I could do it, then I wasn't going to let them down. I accepted the diploma from Mr. Sweet, who seemed glad that everyone was graduating.

I couldn't blame him. Sibuna had caused way too many problems for him and Victor over the last few years, but it was partially their fault. If they weren't so obsessed with immortal life or ruling the world, then nothing would've ever happened.

As I made my way back to my seat, I thought about all of Sibuna's adventures. Had we really found every artifact and every clue? I wasn't sure. Once everyone from Anubis House had gotten their diplomas, we were instructed to stand up. After a small speech from Fabian, who really wasn't that great of a public speaker, we cheered and threw our square caps into the air.

I laughed out of happiness, rushing over to Fabian and grabbing him in a tight hug. He laughed with me, pulling me closer. This was the best day, but it was also the worst. We had to leave in two days, and we had no idea if we'd ever see each other again.

After graduation was over, Fabian and I walked back to Anubis House together, leaving the other residents to whatever they were doing. I didn't know, nor did I want to. As we walked through the school grounds, I sighed. Was it really over? Did it have to be?

A large amount of people were waiting in the common room when Fabian and I stepped through the door. The first person my mind registered was an old woman standing by one of the sarcophagi in the main corridor.

"Gran!" I yelled, running over to her. "You made it!"

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't come to see you graduate?" she asked, fake hurt in her voice.

"I just wasn't sure," I admitted. "I mean, the last time you were in England, you got really sick." What she hadn't known about her illness was that an angry spirit had caused it.

"Why would getting sick once stop me from coming to see my granddaughter?"

"I have no idea!" I laughed. I heard someone behind me clear their throat and I whipped around to see who.

Four people were standing in front of me, obviously a family. The oldest guy, who was around 45 years old, was really tall and had dark, dark brown hair, almost black. His eyes were a startling shade of emerald, and his gaze was intense, as if he was staring into my soul.

The woman standing beside him was pretty for her age. Her light brown locks curled around her face, and her deep brown eyes seemed warm and friendly. There was a little girl, maybe five or six years old, standing beside her, and she had the woman's hair and the man's eyes. She was adorable.

When I realized who the last person with the family was, I smiled. This was Fabian's family. The man, Fabian's father, held out his hand.

"You must be Nina," he said to me. I took his hand and shook it once. "I'm Richard, Fabian's father. It's so nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," I said sweetly. When I looked over at Fabian, I had to hold back a laugh. The little girl, who was probably his sister, had taken hold of his arm and was using it like a swing. When Fabian's parents saw what was going on, they tried to help him. After their fourth failed attempt, I walked over to the little girl.

"OH!" she cried, letting go of her brother. I was glad she had let him go, but was shocked when she latched onto me, grabbing me in a hug. Whoa, she was a really strong six-year-old. It took Fabian, his parents, Gran, and Patricia –who had just walked in –to pull the little girl off of me.

"Sorry," she giggled after she had calmed down a little. "I'm happy to meet you! Fabina all the way!" The little girl giggled again.

I looked over at Fabian. "Fabina all the way?" I repeated. He buried his face in his hands, embarrassed out of his mind.

"I'm Chloe," the girl said, grabbing my attention again. "I'm Fabian's little sister!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Chloe," I told her. "Now, where did you hear about Fabina?"

"From Fabian! He said beauty queen called you and him that," Chloe said, pointing Amber, who had just walked in with Alfie.

"Um, Chloe, how about you go into the next room with Mom and Dad?" Fabian suggested, watching Amber realize who the girl was talking about. His sister skipped into the common room, leaving Fabian at Amber's mercy.

"RUTTER!" she screamed. "Why did your little sister just call me beauty queen?!"

"Um, because I kind of told her you were a beauty queen," Fabian said sheepishly, backing away from the ticked-off blonde. Smart move. "She wanted to know what everyone was like! It's not my fault you really care about your appearance."

"Don't you turn this around, Fabian!" Amber scolded him, stepping forward. I watched in amusement as Alfie tried to pull his girlfriend back. Some things never change.

After everyone managed to calm Amber down, I pulled Fabian to the side. He had to explain this whole Chloe-knowing-about-Fabina thing. Before I could say anything, however, Gran walked over to us.

"Well, look at the lovebirds," she teased.

"Gran!" I sighed. "Not now!"

"I was just going to say that you two look good together," she said innocently, but I knew better. The last time Gran had interfered in our relationship, it hadn't ended well. After much begging, I finally got her to leave.

"So, how does your little sister know about Fabina?" I asked my boyfriend.

"Um, well, she asked me if I had a girlfriend and it kind of slipped out," Fabian admitted. I laughed and threw my arms around his neck. He was so odd sometimes, but I loved him for it.

After the hug fest was over, I ran upstairs to change out of the tacky robe I was wearing. Once I was in a normal outfit –a white shirt, greenish jacket, and jeans with flats –I hurried down the stairs. Fabian had told me just before the graduation ceremony that he wanted to show me something down in the tunnel.

I had to sneak past everyone to get to the cellar door and unlock it, but strangely no one seemed to notice me. I walked calmly down the steps, and over to the alcove in the back of the room. The snake tumblers were still in place, so I just had to turn them until they read 1809. The locks whirled and spun until I heard the click and the door slid open.

The room was exactly how I remembered it. I hadn't been down here in months, but everything was the same. The dusty old bookshelf that hid the tunnel, the large picture of Frobisher where the amulets had been hidden, the desk overflowing with books. Everything was the same.

Well, almost everything was the same. On the desk sat a brightly wrapped present labeled 'Nina.' Who had left that down here? I slowly approached the desk, but stopped when I heard a creaking noise from behind me. Panic rose within me as I slowly turned around.

"Holy crap, Fabian, you scared the life out of me," I scolded as I saw who was there.

Fabian laughed at my reaction. "What? I told you I was going to be down here, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting you to hide from me," I said, sinking down into the plush armchair by the desk. Fabian laughed again, sitting on the edge of the table. He slid the present over to me, instructing me to open it.

"You first," I said, taking another brightly wrapped gift out of my pocket. "I hope you like it."

Instead of arguing with me –which he knew wouldn't work –Fabian tore the paper off the gift I gave him, revealing the surprise. I had gotten him a leather cuff bracelet with his name and the outline of a book burned onto it. Fabian immediately clasped it around his wrist, admiring the new accessory.

"Wow, thanks Nina," he said, reaching for my hand. "It's amazing! Now open yours."

I smirked at him just before I ripped open the package on the table. Inside was the most beautiful charm bracelet I had ever seen. It had seven charms on it, each for a different member of Sibuna. There was a magician's hat for Alfie (or Alfredo), a pink handbag for Amber, a skateboard for Eddie, an Egyptian book for Fabian, a red skull-and-crossbones for Patricia, and a small replica of the Eye of Horus locket for me. The last charm was a small, silver tag engraved with the words "Sibuna Forever."

"It's perfect, Fabian," I smiled as he clasped it around my wrist. Fabian hugged me tight, pressing a kiss on my lips. I smiled as he let me go. He was a perfect, geeky, amazing boyfriend, and I had no idea what I had done to deserve him.

When we realized we had been in the study for half an hour, we snuck back into the common room, bypassing Victor and the other adults. Amber and Patricia were waiting on us when we got there.

"Fabian Rutter," Amber said in a dangerous voice. "You told me I could be there when you gave her the bracelet."

"Sorry, beauty queen," he joked. Big mistake, I thought when Amber's eyes got huge. I snickered as she chased him through the house, only to be stopped by little Chloe.

"Beauty Queen!" she giggled. "Fabian told me you dressed like a princess, but he never said you looked like one!"

Amber, forgetting she was mad at Fabian, turned to the little girl. "Well, I don't like to brag, but I do my best to look fabulous. If you'd like, I could see how princess-y we can make you look."

With a squeal, Fabian's little sister followed Amber up to her room. I looked over at my boyfriend.

"I think Amber just stole your sister," I laughed. "So, why'd Amber want to be there when you gave me the bracelet?"

"She and Patricia bought you charms for it," Fabian admitted. "When they give them to you, please don't tell them I told you. Amber would kill me, and Patricia would probably cheer her on."

I laughed at his statement. "Probably," I agreed.

When Amber came back down the stairs with Chloe about ten minutes later, I had to laugh. They were both in bright pink dresses, but Chloe's was obviously one of Amber's long shirts turned into a dress. Somewhere Amber had found a tiara and placed it on the little girl's head. I had to admit, they both looked nice, but it was still funny that the person Amber was finally able to be girly with was six.

When Amber saw me, she dragged Patricia over and they handed me two charms. The charm from Amber was a replica of the Cup of Ankh, and the one Patricia gave me was a replica of the Mask of Anubis.

"Thanks, you guys," I said, attaching the charms to my bracelet. "They're perfect, but I didn't get you anything!"

"Well, you could let me throw a Sibuna Goodbye Party tonight," Amber said to me. "That would be present enough."

"Whoa, did Millington just say that work would be a present?" Patricia asked in amusement. "Are you sick or something?"

"I'm not sick," Amber stated. "I just want to do this. Nina, please?"

I smiled. "Why not? It's not like we have anything else to do tonight. Go for it, Amber."

Amber squealed in delight. "Perfect! Okay, Sibuna Goodbye Party in the attic at midnight. Tell all of Sibuna."

A few hours later, after all of the families had left, I was sitting in my room, alone. Amber was setting up the party, apparently by herself. I was shocked at the gesture, but at the same time I was proud of her. Amber was growing up.

I sat on my bed and stared out the window. I would miss this place. I would miss the mysteries and the challenges, the danger and the excitement. I would miss Trudy and I would even miss Victor. But most of all, I'd miss the fun Sibuna had. Why did it have to be over? Why couldn't there be just one more mystery to solve, one more challenge to overcome?

I laid my head on my pillow, realizing there wouldn't be an answer. There were no more mysteries, no more challenges, no more anything. The house almost felt . . . cold, lifeless. I could feel the energy of the house fading slowly away.

It made me want to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two: House of Goodbye

Nina

When 11:57 rolled around, I snuck out of my room, not wanting to wake Mara or Joy. Patricia was waiting on me by the attic door. When she made a snide comment about my lateness, I just ignored her. She was a bit grouchy today. Just as I was about to open the door, it swung open for me.

I laid a hand on the door frame, smiling. The house still had some life left in it, though it wasn't much. Patricia cleared her throat, reminding me we had to go. When we got to the attic, everyone was waiting on us. Fabian had a small place open beside him, as did Eddie.

Patricia and I looked at each other, realizing the plan we each had. I sat down beside my Osirian, while she sat down beside the resident geek. Everyone looked at us, confusion in their gazes.

"What are you guys looking at?" Patricia asked, reaching for a soda that Amber had graciously provided.

"Um, isn't your boyfriend over there?" Alfie said, pointing to Eddie.

"Yeah, Yacker, I'm over here," Eddie said in a wounded voice.

"What, so I can't sit beside a friend?"

"Um, no, not really," Amber stated. "It's not really you."

Patricia and I looked at each other again, laughing. Why had we never really been friendly? I mean, we had been in Sibuna together for a while, but we had never really acted like friends. We switched spots and sat down beside our respective boyfriends.

"So," I said. "This is it. Our last Sibuna meeting. Anyone want to say anything?"

"I'll miss you all!" Amber cried. "I can't believe this is our last time as Sibuna. Why does it have to be over?"

I had been thinking the same thing before I came up here, but I didn't want to say anything. I saw the others in the room nodding their heads in agreement to what Amber was saying. Why _did_ it have to be over? Why couldn't there be just one more mystery, one more challenge for Sibuna?

Shockingly enough, everyone in Sibuna made short speeches, even Eddie and Fabian. Alfie was the next to say something, but everyone soon followed with their own goodbye.

"I can't believe we may never see each other again," he said. "You guys mean a lot to me, and I'll always remember Sibuna as the most fun I've ever had."

"I'm not good at saying mushy things," Patricia told us. Like we didn't know that. "But I want to say that Sibuna was fun, even though we almost died a lot. So, what I'm trying to say is, Sibunas? Stay fun."

"I'm not sure how Sibuna was before I joined," Eddie began, "but over the last few years it's become like family to me. I'm not sure how I'll feel when we have to leave tomorrow, well, I think its tomorrow, but I know we'll have an adventure wherever we end up."

"I don't know what to say," Fabian said to everyone, "but I'll try. Sibuna is the perfect blend of crazy, fun, danger, and normalcy. I'll miss the wonderful people that are here in this room, and I'll never forget how Sibuna came to be." He gave me a look of elation, motioning for me to say something.

"Um, well, I'll miss all of you," I said truthfully. "Sibuna was, is, an amazing thing we belong to. I would rather we never left, but I guess we need to so we can have our own lives. I would love to keep Sibuna alive and active, but there's just no way that can happen. The energy in the house is fading, and I know that there are no more challenges or mysteries. I hate having to say that, because I wish there was one more we could solve. But even though the mysteries might be solved, and the challenges completed, and the danger gone, we have to remember one thing: once a Sibuna, always a Sibuna."

"Sibuna forever," we all said, holding our right hands over our eyes. I smiled at my friends. I couldn't believe this was goodbye to the best group in the world. How could this be the end? When Fabian glanced at his watch about five minutes after we all gave our heartfelt speeches, he let out a yelp of shock.

"It's one in the morning," he told us. "We've got to get to bed."

We left the attic after cleaning up the mess left over from the party. Once Amber and I were in our room, she made me sit down at her mirror desk thing so she could braid my hair. I put up a small fight, but eventually I gave in. What was the point? We'd be gone soon, and Amber wouldn't be able to do this anymore.

When Amber finished with my hair, I had to admit it looked pretty. She had managed to pull my hair into a decent side braid, my brown locks falling over my shoulder. I said goodnight to her after she declined my offer to braid her hair. I didn't blame her; I was awful at it. As I fell asleep, one thought echoed through my mind.

_Why does it have to be over?_

Fabian

"WAKE UP, FABIAN!"someone yelled in my ear, startling me awake. I bolted up, my head hitting something very hard. Ouch. I opened my eyes and saw Jerome of all people standing over me, rubbing a spot on his forehead. Had I hit him? I kind of hoped so. If he went around scaring people to wake them up, then that's what he deserved.

"What was that for?" he demanded, giving me a death glare.

"It's not like I did it on purpose," I grumbled. "Why did you scare me?"

"I didn't mean to; I just have that effect on people," he said cheerfully. "Now come on. The girls want everyone in the common room, and you are included in that 'everyone'."

Telling Jerome to give me a few minutes to get dressed, I ushered him out of the room. Why did they send Jerome to wake me up? What did the girls want? After I got dressed, I slowly walked into the common room, still half asleep.

"OH NO!" Alfie cried. "FABIAN'S A ZOMBIE!"

Before I could say anything, I was blasted with a stream of water. Now I was awake. What was going on? I looked around to see all of the residents of Anubis House armed with water guns. _Not this,_ I thought. _Anything but this._

We were about to have a water gun fight.

Eddie tossed me a full water gun and pulled me outside. I heard footsteps behind me and knew that everyone was following.

"Okay," he said, pulling me behind a tree. "Here are the rules. You and I are on a team, and if you get hit, you're out. That hit inside didn't count since Alfie and I made a bet of who'd be the last one awake. Alfie won, so he got to shoot you with water. Any questions?"

"Yeah, why am I on your team?"

"Because the teams were separated by rooms, that's why. The biggest team is Mara, Joy, and Patricia, since they all room together. Come on, I see Jerry!"

Without another word, Eddie sprinted off silently, brandishing his bright green water gun. I heard a spray of water and a loud "Jerome's out!" coming from Eddie's general direction. When he came back, he was smiling triumphantly.

"One down, six to go," Eddie said smugly.

We waited behind the tree for a while, hearing names called every few minutes. By the time I decided to venture from my hiding spot, Amber, Alfie, Mara, and Joy were all out. Eddie and I were the only full team left.

I spotted Nina sneaking away from the water fight, so I decided to follow her. She ducked behind a tree stump, her head just peeking over the top. I smiled, thinking about what I was going to do. I crawled over to her very quietly, wondering if she knew I was there. I didn't have to wait long.

"HIYA!" she screeched, pointing the purple water gun at my face.

I laughed. "You wouldn't shoot me, would you? Why would you shoot your own boyfriend?"

"Water people or get watered, Fabian," she said to me, a smile on her face.

"Well, in that case," I said, pulling my water gun from behind my back and firing it at her. "You just got watered."

Nina, soaking wet at this point, tried to give me a hug. I stepped back and hollered "NINA'S OUT!"

Once that was established, I realized I had heard Eddie's voice coming from a little ways away. Sneaking around, I found out he had cornered Patricia.

"Come on, Yacker," he said, holding the green gun in the air. "Let's just do this easily."

"Never!" she laughed, pulling out a red water gun and firing at the American. Strangely, it missed him, letting him perform a counter-attack.

The water gun war ended with Eddie yelling "YACKER'SOUT! TEAM EDDIE WINS!"

"So why are we Team Eddie?" I asked, strolling up behind him.

"Because I didn't like Team Fabian, or Team Eddie and Fabian," Eddie told me.

"Oh, worried about your image?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But that doesn't matter, because we won!"

I smirked at the American boy, pulling out my dark blue water gun. "Not quite," I laughed, hitting him with a blast of water. "Eddie's out! Fabian Rutter wins!"

"No way," Patricia laughed, walking over to her boyfriend. "I can't believe you fell for that, Slimeball. Rutter totally fooled you!"

"Dude, that's not funny!" Eddie complained, looking at his wet shirt. Everyone else had walked over by that point, and now they were laughing at him.

"Um, it kind of was," Jerome said, looking Eddie up and down. "You were beat by geeky Stutter Rutter. It can't get any better than that."

Nina came over to me and gave me a huge, wet hug. Even though it was a little weird, I hugged her back anyway. What was a boyfriend for? Once we got inside and changed into dry clothes, Amber made us take pictures in the common room.

At first we all just had singles pictures done, each of us expressing our individual style. Next came the couples' photos, which I found hilarious. Eddie and Patricia were the first up, and Eddie had the idea of trying to pick her up, bride-style. It didn't end well. Just as Amber was snapping the picture, Eddie started to lose his grip on his girlfriend. The picture ended up being of Eddie almost dropping Patricia.

Amber and Alfie's photo was a little less funny. They were sitting together on the couch, Amber decked out in all pink. Alfie was forced to wear a pink shirt, though I had no idea where he had gotten it. After their picture was taken, Jerome and Mara had one done.

They were posing like a couple would at a dance, standing side by side with their arms wrapped around one another. It was sweet, but very cliché. Amber made a hmph sound when she saw how the picture turned out. They looked like a normal, boring couple, but no matter how much begging she did, they refused to retake the picture.

Nina and I tried to get away with something similar, but Amber wasn't about to let her favorite couple have a boring photo. When we were walking toward each other, Patricia shoved Nina forward, while Eddie did the same to me. Instinctively, we grabbed each other in a hug, trying not to fall. Amber took the picture when we were looking in each other's eyes.

"Perfect!" she declared.

And so the rest of our second-to-last day at Anubis House came and went.

None of us were happy when it came time for Victor to give his pin-drop speech, but he allowed us an extra half hour since it was our last night at Anubis House. Nina and I sat next to each other on the couch, ignoring him, talking about nothing in particular.

"So, what do you want to do once you're out of college?" I asked her.

"I think I want to be a journalist," she said, looking up at me with her sparkling green eyes. "I want to find the truth and tell people about it."

"Interesting," I mused. "Nina Martin, the leader of a club based on secrets, wanting to report the truth."

"Stop it," she laughed, giving me a playful shove. "What about you? What do you want to do?"

"I want to become an Egyptologist," I confessed. "All of these Egyptian mysteries have made me want to learn more."

Nina nodded slowly. "That sounds . . . really interesting."

I smiled at her. "I know, it sounds boring, but I already know so much about Egypt, so why not learn more?"

"True," Nina mused.

And so our last night at Anubis House passed.

Patricia fell asleep on Eddie, who didn't risk moving her, so they stayed in the common room with Nina and I. Nina had fallen asleep on me, too, and I didn't want to wake her up.

"What do we do?" Eddie mouthed to me.

I chuckled silently. "We don't move, especially you, Eddie. Patricia would kill you if you woke her up."

"You're right, but how are we supposed to get to our room?"

"We're not," I told him. "We sleep here and deal with it in the morning."

"Oh."

I settled back, closing my eyes. I didn't worry about the future, didn't worry about what Victor would do when he caught us sleeping down here, didn't worry about anything. All I thought about as I fell asleep was my girlfriend, my Chosen One, my Nina.

Eddie

"WHAT ARE YOU FOUR DOING DOWN HERE?!" I heard Victor yell, scaring us all awake. Patricia almost fell off the couch, but I managed to keep her up.

"Um," Nina said uncertainly. "I think we fell asleep. Sorry."

"Well, since this is your last day, I guess it does not matter," Victor said, surprising us. He was actually letting us get away with sleeping in the common room? Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, after all.

Once we were all up, I made a dash for my room and a clean pair of clothes. After I got dressed, I met up with Patricia in the hall way.

"Hey, um, Patricia," I began, not sure how to continue. "Since this is our last day and all, would you like to, um, go on a walk later?"

"What? Like a romantic stroll?"

I bit my lip. "Um, I guess so, but if you don't want to –" I was cut off.

"How about we go at noon, yeah?" Patricia asked, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Perfect. Noon it is," I said happily. It was going to be our last date, so I had to make it special.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a simple walk through the school grounds wasn't enough. I needed some cheesy Fabian Rutter advice on dating.

"Set up a picnic," he suggested. "Amber might help you out if you ask nice enough."

"What might Amber help out with?" the blonde asked, walking into the common room. I told her my plan for the date later on today. "Oh my gosh, how romantic! Of course I'll help. You'll need a large blanket, a basket full of her favorite foods, some flowers, a vase, and a nice spot under a tree. Oh, this will be perfect!"

And that's how most of my last day at Anubis House passed.

After Amber helped me set up the picnic, we walked back to the house. Amber was looking forward to spending time with Alfie, and I had to get ready for the most cliché date I had ever planned. I stood at the base of the stairs at exactly 11:58, waiting for Patricia.

She didn't disappoint. When she came down the stairs, she looked beautiful. She was wearing a light tee shirt and jeans, and she had on her standard high heeled boots and skull-and-crossbones necklace. I watched her walk down the last few steps, not sure what to say.

"What's up, Weasel Face?" she asked as she stood beside me. "Are you that surprised I can look semi-girly?"

"What? No, um, well actually, yeah, but that's not why I'm speechless," I said uncertainly. "You look amazing, Patricia."

"You don't look too bad yourself, Eddie," she said, shocking me again. Did she just call me Eddie? We rarely called each other by our real names, preferring to call each other 'Yacker' and 'Slimeball.' I led her out of the house, wondering what I should say.

"So," she said after I tried for the tenth time to start a conversation. "Where are you going to college?"

"Kansas University," I told her. "They have a great English program."

"You're going to Kansas University?" Patricia said disbelievingly. "That's where I'm going! They have a good art program, and I want to be an artist." **(A/N: Not really sure if there is a Kansas University, or if they have those programs, but it sounded neat.)**

I actually think my jaw dropped. Patricia and I were going to the same school? Were the Fates telling us we belonged together? I mentally shook my head. Great, now I was sounding like Fabian. When we got to the picnic spot I had laid out for us, Patricia smirked. At first I thought something was wrong, but as she sat down on the blanket she told me what she thought.

"And here I thought no one would ever ask Fabian for dating advice," she joked. "Next thing you know, you're wearing calculator watches and reading old, musty books for fun."

"If I ever turn into Fabian," I laughed, "shoot me now."

Patricia gave me a playful glare. "What? With this?" she asked, pulling a small water gun out of her back pocket.

"No way," I said, standing up. "Why would you bring that on a date?"

"Payback," she stated simply, squirting me with water. When Patricia had her payback, I looked down at my clothes and groaned. I was completely drenched!

Instead of doing what I should have, which was ignoring it or going back to change, I picked up a bottle of water and emptied it over my girlfriend's head. Patricia let out an indignant squeal and started throwing parts of the picnic at me. By the time we were done, I had cake in my hair, my shirt was soaked, I had spaghetti sauce stains on my jeans –from the Spaghetti Bolognese hoagies I had made –and Patricia wasn't much better.

We walked back to Anubis House, completely filthy but really happy. I had just learned that I wasn't going to lose my girlfriend when we left Anubis House, and we were still on good terms. Trudy was going to have a fit when she saw us, though. As we walked through the door of the house, Amber ran up to us. She had a crazed look in her normally kind blue eyes.

"Where have you been? We only have an hour until we all have to leave and- WHAT HAPPENED?!" she finished, just noticing how we looked.

"Um, well it started out as a picnic," I said, trailing off.

"And then one thing led to another and we were having a food fight," Patricia finished for me. "But we did find out we're going to the same college in the fall, so we can still be together."

I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend's shoulder, knowing that she really did care about me and that her cold act was just that, an act. After we changed clothes and got all of our bags into the main hallway, I said goodbye to all of my friends, knowing that this was really the end. The last person I said bye to was Nina. She was my little sister in all but blood.

"Bye Nina," I said, giving the brunette a hug.

"See you later, Eddie," she smiled, returning the hug. "You are a great Osirian. Remember that, okay?"

"And you are a fantastic Chosen One, so don't forget it," I told her.

That was the last time I saw anyone from Anubis House for a decade.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so I know I said I would only update early if 4 people reviewed for chapter 2, but I couldn't wait! Hope you enjoy Chapter 3: House of Decade!**

Chapter three: House of Decade

Amber

One Year After Graduation

As my soon-to-be ex boyfriend walked through the door, I prepared myself for what I was about to do. _He deserves what he's going to get,_ I reminded myself. _He hurt you. He deserves to pay._

He looked at me, a happy expression on his face. He had no idea what was about to happen. As he plopped down on the couch, I chucked his suitcase out the window.

"ALFIE LEWIS, I HAVE HAD IT!" I yelled, throwing more of his things out the window. Yes, I was well aware it was cliché, but I honestly didn't care. He was going to pay. He was going to pay for what he did to me.

"What did I do, Ambs?" he pleaded, knowing full well what he did.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your little grad student?" I shot back, throwing more of his things onto the parking lot below. "Get out of my flat, Alfie. NOW!" I chucked his cricket bat at his head out of spite.

He ducked his head and ran outside like a smart moron. Good, he was afraid of me. He should've been a lot longer before this. Alfie knew I wasn't a person to mess with. But even though I was completely and utterly upset with him, I still had tears trailing down my face. Why would Alfie cheat on me?

Why?

Eddie

Two Years After Graduation

"You know, Eddie," Patricia said, walking into the really small kitchen we shared, "you should write. I mean, you're taking a college English class and you haven't written anything but papers for class. Write something fun."

"Like what, Yacker?"

"Write about . . ." she trailed off. Suddenly, her face lit up with a smile. "Write about Anubis House! You can write about Sibuna's adventures. I'll even help you out."

Why did she want me to write about Anubis House? Patricia hated when we talked about our time there. She thought it made us seem crazy, well, crazier. There were times that she really acted strange, as did I. Why was she encouraging my writing? She normally didn't really want to hear about my work. Then again, most of it sucked. I didn't blame her for not wanting to read what I wrote. I didn't even read what I wrote.

But then I thought about it. I did want to write; that's why I was taking that stupid class. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a good idea. With Patricia's help, I could write a pretty good book. She could even design the cover art for the book if it got published.

I opened up my computer and started typing, an idea for the title already forming in my mind.

Joy

Three Years After Graduation

"Ugh! Where am I going?" I asked myself. I had been in Australia for a week now, but I still had no idea how to get from point A to point B.

"Um, maybe I could help you," I heard a male voice with an –surprise, surprise –Australian accent say. I looked around, seeing a tall, sporty-looking blonde guy around my age walking over to me. He looked familiar, but I was fairly certain I didn't know him.

"Could you?" I asked. "How do you get to this address?" I showed him the address written on a slip of paper.

"Um, you go down this street for three blocks, then you take a right, then another right, and it's the first building on your left," he told me helpfully. "Um, I don't mean to sound rude, but what is your name?"

"Joy Mercer," I stated. I had no idea why I gave him my full name. That wasn't something I normally did.

The guy's eyes widened in shock. "Joy Mercer? Did you ever live in the Anubis boarding house in England?"

"How did you know that?" I asked him, a little scared. Who was this guy?

"I'm Mick," he said, a smile on his face. "It's nice to see you again, Joy."

"It's nice to see you, too, Mick. Gosh, the whole island of Australia and I move to the town you live in. What are the odds?"

"You live here now?" Mick asked, walking down the street with me.

"Yeah, the company I work for just moved my job here. I have to say, Australia is a little better now that there's a friendly face."

Mick walked with me to work, and I knew that this was the beginning of a good friendship.

Nina

Four Years After Graduation

"FABIAN?!" I called out. "HELP ME OUT, PLEASE!"

He rushed over and helped me pull the suitcase out of the taxi. I sighed in relief. That was the last one. When we got it inside our home, I looked out the window, seeing the busy streets of New York City below.

"Nina, are you happy with the move?" Fabian asked as I set the last bag in the living room of our new apartment.

"Yeah," I said, surprised by the question. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, you have a job working for a great museum that is going to send you to Egypt for a week every two years, and I'm working for the New York Times as one of their top reporters! How could I not like the move?"

"Well, do you miss your friends back in England?" Fabian asked as he started to unpack.

"Which friends? Do you mean from college or from Anubis house?"

"Both."

"Oh, well, I miss my friends from Anubis House, but I haven't really talked to them in a while. And as to my friends from college, I didn't really have any. You were the social butterfly, not me." Strangely enough, it was true. Fabian had more friends in college than I had. It was weird, but a good weird. Fabian needed to be more sociable.

Fabian laughed, pulling me closer to him and stealing a kiss. Our favorite blonde 'beauty queen' would have been happy to know that Fabina was still going strong.

Amber

Five Years After Graduation

I looked over my father's shoulder. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, what is an adult woman doing in her father's house, but he wanted me to come over so I could help him out. We were looking for a lawyer for his upcoming court case, since his normal lawyer quit. My eyes trailed down the list looking for an interesting name.

_Francis McLean, James Singer, Aaron Padalecki, Jensen Wyatt, Jerome Clarke, Robert Mathews . . . _

Wait, did that say Jerome Clarke? As in, THE Jerome Clarke? The prankster from school Jerome Clarke? He was a lawyer? How did he become a lawyer?

"Pick him," I told my dad, pointing to the name. "He sounds interesting."

Much to my surprise, Dad actually called the number for the lawyer and waited out the ringing. I could tell when Jerome picked up by the slight stiffness of my dad's back, like he had a ruler taped to him.

"Hello Mr. Clarke," my dad said. "My name is Mr. Millington, and I would like to employ you as my lawyer." I heard talking from the other line, and I knew Jerome was talking. "Hmm? Oh, well, it you insist." Dad handed the phone to me, confusion in his gaze.

"Hello, Matchmaker Millington," Jerome's laughing tone came over the phone.

"Jerome Clarke!" I exclaimed. "How did you of all people decide to become a lawyer?"

"I'm not the same person I was back in school, Amber," he said convincingly. "I've changed. But now I'm afraid your father won't let me be his lawyer now that he knows who I am."

"Don't be stupid, Jerome," I said. "Of course you can still be our lawyer. Now, what about your success rate?"

"I haven't lost a case yet, and I've presided over fifteen," he said proudly. I looked over at my father and told him Jerome's case rating. He nodded solemnly, letting me know he was in approval. Wow, someone actually agreed with me on something. That was an almost-first.

"It's official," I said over the line. "Jerome Clarke, prepare to meet the Millingtons!"

Eddie

Six Years After Graduation

"Well, Mr. Miller," the editor said, looking at me over the top of her glasses. "You certainly are an inventive writer."

"That's one way of saying things, I guess," Patricia said sarcastically from her seat beside me. I shot her a mean look when the editor wasn't looking. She was making it seem like I was an idiot or something. This was her idea, so why was she doing this?

"I have only three questions," the woman asked, bringing my attention back to the matter at hand. "One: where did your inspiration come from?"

"It came from the boarding home I stayed at in high school," I told her truthfully. "It was Egyptian themed."

"Interesting," she mused. "Two: would you be willing to write a sequel?"

"Of course I would." I already had it planned out and the rough draft half written.

"And three: is there anyone in particular you would like to design the cover art?"

I smiled. This was going better than I thought. "If she could, I'd like Patricia to do the cover art. She's a great artist, and I think you'd like her work."

"One extra question then: would you sign here?" The editor handed me a contract.

I read it over, marveling at my luck. I was going to be a writer. I, Eddie Miller, was going to become a novelist. It was almost too good to be true. Who would've thought I would make it this far? Certainly not me.

After I signed the contract, the editor smiled. "Welcome to Delecorte Press, Edison Miller." **(A/N: Delecorte Press is an actual publishing company, but they're in Ireland, I think)**

Fabian

Nine Years After Graduation

This was it. The day I ask Nina Martin to marry me. We had been dating for over a decade now, and I thought it was time for us to go the next step in our relationship. I hoped it wasn't too soon, but I had to ask her. It felt like something I had to do.

I planned the perfect night: dinner at her favorite restaurant, a stroll through Central Park, and a little boat ride over the lake, where I was going to ask her to marry me. I hoped beyond hope that she would say yes, but I wasn't sure. What if she wasn't ready? What if she didn't want to marry me?

That last fear might have been ridiculous, but it was a legitimate one. Maybe Nina didn't want to marry me. I mean, I was still a geek, and nine years away from Anubis House didn't change that. Even though I had butterflies tying knots in my stomach, I was still going to ask her.

When we went out for dinner, the first thing she asked was what the occasion was. We hardly ever ate here, unless it was her birthday or Valentine's Day or something. I refused to tell her the whole truth, only telling her it was a special occasion.

On our walk, which was romantic as well as cheesy –something I was known for –her eyes lit up as the fireflies danced through the air around us. This night was perfect, but I was determined to make it better. I led her to the small, white boat house by the edge of the crystal blue lake and pulled her along. When I was sure she was seated –on our last boating trip, the boat started moving before she was sitting and she ended up getting soaked –I started rowing.

About ten minutes later, we had already talked about everything under the sun, but we were still having a good time. I directed the cozy little boat to a spot under a set of white fairy lights I had set up the day before, after getting permission of the person who owned the patch of land. Nina's eyes were almost glowing with bliss, and as I looked at her, I realized, for maybe the first time, exactly why I wanted to marry her.

Nina was the perfect girl for me. She was funny, smart, beautiful, and she knew almost everything there was to know about me, but she didn't leave. She had led Sibuna with confidence and bravery, making us believe that we could accomplish anything, even what seemed impossible. She was amazing in everything she did, and I trusted her with all my heart. I loved her, and that was all that mattered.

When I pulled us to a stop, she gave me a look of confused joy. She had no idea what I was about to ask her. I let go of the wooden oars and got down on one knee in front of her, not an easy feat in a boat by the way. I pulled the small, black jewelry box out of my pocket and opened it up in front of her.

"Nina Martin," I said in a tender voice, showing her the diamond-and-silver ring inside, "would you do me the huge honor of marrying me?"

Nina looked like she was about to cry as she said "Yes, I'll marry you. I love you."

My smile could've melted ice as I gently placed the ring over her finger. "And I love you," I told her, pulling her closer for a kiss.

And that was when I knew the rest of my life would be perfect. Nina Martin loved me, and that was all that mattered.

**SO what do you think? I'll update on Monday!**

**Love ya lots!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: House of Now

Alfie

"Hey, Kelly," I said, walking through the door. "How was Milan?"

"It was amazing," she gushed. "The outfits were perfect, the lighting just right, and the music really set the tone for the whole show."

"Cool," I told her. Wow, did I always fall for the beauty queen? I guess I did.

"So, how was your two week tour?" she asked as I sat down beside her on the couch.

"It was fun," I said truthfully. "I had a blast, told a few jokes, made a bunch of people laugh. It was a very successful trip."

"Well, as long as you didn't tell them about the fashion fail," she laughed. "You looked awful in a dress."

I groaned. Why did she have to bring that up?

Jerome

I sighed, closing my eyes and resting my head on the back of my chair. Finally, the case was over. Now I wouldn't have to stay up until god knows when researching the case file. It was exhausting.

"Hey, sleepy," Amber sang, skipping into my office. "I heard you won the case."

"Yes, now please leave. I'm sleeping." I let out an overly-dramatic snore. Amber giggled.

"Wake up!"

This was getting tiresome, but she was too bubbly a person to let anyone sleep, which was just another part of her amazing personality.

Nina

I sighed. Times like this I missed my friends at Anubis House. Not that I didn't miss them at other times, but still. I actually started having a conversation with myself in my mind out of boredom.

_Where were we going again? _

_Oh, right. Cairo, Egypt. Fun! Not._

_Why did I have to come on this boring trip?_

_Because Fabian didn't want me to feel left out._

_Why did this seem more fun last week? _

_Probably because I was looking forward to Egyptian mysteries and traps. _

_And why on earth was I wishing I was still in school?_

_Oh, because if I was, there would be a mystery for me to solve with Sibuna._

Fabian looked over at me, a smile on his face. He was really looking forward to this trip, and I was trying to be supportive. He was always so nice to me, so much so that I felt a little . . . selfish.

"Nina, love?" Fabian said hesitantly. "I know it's not Sibuna worthy, but this will be fun. I promise."

I smiled up at my fiancé. Wow, that was still a little shocking to think, even though he had asked me to marry him a month ago. I didn't regret my decision, but it still surprised me every once in a while that I was engaged to my wonderful, amazing, geeky fiancé.

Joy

"Mick! Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said teasingly. We had been dating for over half a decade now, but the jock still managed to surprise me. He had been planning a trip to somewhere for the last week, but he told me it was too good a surprise to ruin.

We walked along the streets of Sydney, Australia, until we came to a building I knew well. The Sydney Opera House.

"No way! We're going to the opera?"

Mick smiled at me. "Where else did you expect? The moon perhaps?"

Patricia

"YES!" I heard Eddie yell from the next room. I rushed over, wondering what the fuss was about. He was holding a red and gold bound book in his hands, and I caught a glimpse of the title.

_The Man in Time, by Eddison Miller._

"It's published?" I asked in awe. Instead of an answer, Eddie rushed over to me and pulled me in a tight hug. Wow, he must've been really excited about the book. After he let me go, I looked at the book jacket.

It was just as I had drawn it. The golden title was written at the top, and right under it was my boyfriend's name. For the picture, I had painted a pair of glowing red eyes looking menacingly at the reader, and a sarcophagus lying on the ground. It was just as I had wanted it to look.

I hugged Eddie back, marveling at the success he had become. He had achieved number three in the New York Times bestseller list. It was a massive accomplishment for the guy who had been the immature American at school.

Mara

"Okay, class!" I called, writing on the board. "We're going to be learning how to find the area of a cylinder today. And no, you do not just guess, Jacob." I fixed the blonde teen with a glare.

"Of course not, Ms. Jaffray," he said, rolling his eyes.

As the class went on, I had to remind myself why I had become a teacher. I wanted to help the children of the nation become better at what they were doing, and if that meant dealing with smart-mouthed slackers, then so be it.

"For homework you have pages 362 through 363, numbers 5 through 39, odd. You have ten minutes of class left, so I suggest you get started."

I loved that part of class.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Was it okay? I'll try to update on Monday. Quick question: does anyone remember all of the reflectors for the contelation/falcon challenge? (I call it the falcon challenge, but some people call it the constelation challenge) If you know, the info would be greatly apreicated! **

**See ya later!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five: House of Letters

Nina

I sorted through the mail, separating Fabian's from mine. We didn't look through each other's mail. It wasn't nice. As I looked at the names on the envelopes, I saw two that looked almost identical. When I saw the return address, I almost had a heart attack from shock.

Without pausing to look through the rest, I ran inside and found Fabian in his study, which he had based on Frobisher's. Despite how Frobisher acted when he was evil, Fabian still admired the man. He saw the crazed/happy look in my eyes and gave me a confused/concerned look. Without a word, I shoved his letter into his hand. He read the return address first, a habit of his. When he saw who it was from, Fabian looked up at me.

"Anubis House?" he asked in awe. I nodded, showing him my letter from the same place. "Shall we open them?" Fabian asked, making sure it was okay with me.

Instead of answering, I tore open the letter from my favorite school in the world. Inside was a letter hand-written by Mr. Sweet, who was apparently still the headmaster.

Ms. Nina Martin,

The Anubis House School Reunion had been scheduled for July 10th through July 17th. You will be staying in Anubis House if you choose to attend, which is still under the care of Victor Rodenmaar, and be rooming with Amber Millington. I hope you can attend this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the school again.

Eric Sweet, Headmaster

I gave a cry of joy. Anubis House Reunion! This was going to be amazing! Fabian, having just read his letter, looked up at me.

"Anubis Reunion?" he said in a quiet voice.

I nodded. "Anubis Reunion! England, here we come!"

Fabian and I spent the next few hours remembering the best things that had happened to us in Anubis House. His favorite was when we came back for the second term and he got to see me again, while mine happened to be prom night. This was going to be amazing!

Amber

"JEROME!" I called out. "WE'RE GOING BACK!" I ran into the common room and found Jerome sitting on the couch, reading a case file. He looked up at me, confusion in his gaze.

"Where are we going?"

I gathered him in a hug. "Anubis House! There's going to be a reunion! We can see the old gang and have so much fun! You can catch up with Alfie and pull pranks on Patricia and Eddie, just like old times!"

Jerome stood, returning my hug. "Look out Anubis," he whispered in my ear. "Millington and Clarke are coming back."

Eddie

"YACKER!"I yelled down the hall. "DAD WROTE!"

"What does he want this time?" Patricia shot back, poking her head around the corner. "If this is about the summer holidays again, I swear, I'm avoiding all of your family."

Instead of answering her, I rushed over and showed her the letter. After Patricia read it, she looked up at me.

"We're going back?" she asked in awe. I nodded.

"England better watch out!" I laughed as she gave me a hug.

Jerome

"Are you sure you need all of this stuff?" I asked Amber. "We're only going to be gone a week."

"Of course I do, Jerome Clarke," she scolded, helping me with one of her five bags. "How long have we been together, and what have you learned from me?"

I sighed. "Five years, Amber, and yes, I do know how to braid thanks to you." It was a skill I never wanted, but it made her happy that I had learned something from her.

Once we were on the train, Amber sat next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. I sighed again, this time out of content. We were going to my favorite school in the world to see our old friends. Would they know who we were? Would they guess what we do for a living? Amber maybe, but I knew my job would be a shock.

Fabian

"Are you sure you have enough books?" Nina joked as she struggled to pull the case up the stairs. I ran over to help her.

"Well, if I'm going back to Anubis I need to have some of my Egyptology books with me," I explained, taking the bag and hoisting it into the back of the taxi. Nina laughed as we hopped in the cab.

"Frobisher's study is still there, Fabian. You can go in and take a few books if you want," Nina explained, holding my hand.

"But what if something happens?" I asked. "What if future generations need the books and we take them? I won't risk it, not after everything we went through."

Nina sighed, laying her head on my shoulder. "Okay, but you can still look at them. Besides, I want to take one last look at the tunnels."

I laughed. Only Nina would want to go back to a place she had almost lost her life at, but I had to admit, I sort of wanted to go back inside once more, for memory's sake.

Patricia

"So Yacker, are you excited to be going back?" Eddie asked me, reaching out for my hand.

I took his hand saying "Yeah, I am actually. I can't wait to see how the Sibunas made out. Can't wait to see how they react to the new me."

Eddie laughed. "Yeah, or me," he said, smiling at me. We both we not what anyone would have thought we would become in school. Eddie was a mystery/suspense writer and I was an artist. Not exactly what 'Yacker' and 'Slimeball' would have chosen, was it?

Once the plane took off, I settled back into my chair and watched the clouds. Ten minutes later, I heard Eddie snoring. I chuckled. He could fall asleep anywhere.

Eddie

_I looked around, marveling at the old house. It looked the exact same as it did ten years ago. I walked past the common room, past the stairs, and into my old room. Fabian was there, but it was the same him from a decade ago._

"_Eddie, why are you late? We have to get to class soon!" he said, throwing my bag at me. I looked around and saw the room was the exact same as it had been before we left. When I looked back at Fabian, he wasn't who I saw._

_I saw Senkarah._

_I bolted from the room, running up the stairs. I had no idea where I was going, but I was getting away from the ghost who tried to kill me, along with the rest of the Sibunas. I ran into a random room, barely pausing when I noticed it was Nina's._

_Nina was standing in the back corner, huddled up with a pillow clutched to her. She gave me a wide-eyed look of fear, but the fear was mixed with a small amount of confusion._

"_Eddie?" she whispered. "Did you see her too?"_

_I nodded as the door was thrown open, the smoky-black figure walking slowly towards us. Senkarah held her hands out, palms facing us, and I saw the two glowing marks of Anubis. Senkarah cackled as she grabbed our arms._

"_Revenge is sweet," she laughed. "Bring me the Cup and the Mask before the end of your trip or watch your friends suffer." _

_I felt the mark burn into my skin, and by Nina's reaction she felt it too. Senkarah cackled again and again, watching us struggle to get out of her grasp._

"Eddie?" Patricia said, shaking my arm. I bolted up. Where was I? At Anubis House? No, I was on a plane with my girlfriend, safe from the evil ghost. There was nothing to be afraid of; Senkarah was in the Underworld where she belonged. There was nothing to be worried about. At least, that's what I kept telling myself to refrain from looking at my arm.

Once the plane landed, I helped Patricia off. I was doing my best to act nicer to her. It wasn't a challenge for me, though. I was known as the joking, sarcastic smartass from school, and that's what people probably still thought of me, but I was slowly changing. I opened my computer once we were in the cab. I was trying to write another book, but I had no inspiration.

My career was based on the Sibunas' adventures in Anubis House. I had written three books, called The Anubis Heroes, and I didn't have anything else to write. Our adventures were over, but my editor was demanding I write another book. Patricia did her best to help me come up with ideas, but without another mystery, I was stuck.

I did what I did best nowadays, which was rewriting my first book, The Cup of Life. I was surprised when I found myself typing not my book, but my dream. I told of Senkarah and Nina, the mark and the fear. I wrote down everything that had happened in my dream. Patricia looked over my shoulder and read what I was working on.

"You're bringing Senkarah back for your next book?" she asked. "Nice twist for the reader, horrible twist for the reunion. Tell me it's just a story plot."

I laughed. "Yeah, Patricia, it's just for the book. I didn't actually see her or anything." I laughed again, fingering the hem of my sleeve. _It was just a dream,_ I told myself. _It was just a dream. I haven't had a vision in years. It was just a dream._

When we got to the school, we went to my dad's office first. He was really happy to see us. We went inside his office, where he now had a picture of Patricia and me in Paris on his desk.

"Eddie, Patricia, it's good to see you again," he said, smiling at us. "So how was your flight?"

"Good," Patricia said. She looked out the window, bored already. I knew she was thinking about her art studio. She was always thinking about her next painting, her next drawing. Patricia was dedicated to her art, just as I had been dedicated to my writing before I ran out of inspiration.

"Yeah," I added. "It was fun." That was a lie, but he didn't need to know it. We talked for a while, Dad getting really excited that we were going to be here for a week. I had no idea he was so happy about the reunion of the most trouble-causing students the school had ever seen.

"How is your writing career going, Eddie?" Dad asked. I looked over at his bookshelf and saw he had all three of my novels. I didn't know he had read my books. I didn't know he read anything besides teacher manuals or Egyptian research books. Then again, my books were factual. A little too factual, in fact.

"Okay, I guess. I'm suffering from writer's block," I told him. "I ran out of horrible experiences to write about."

He laughed, but I could tell it was strained. He knew what he had done during our adventures, and since he read my books he knew how I felt about it. We talked for a little while longer, but we had to get to Anubis House and unpack. I gave him a guy-hug before we left though. This was the first time I had seen him in two years.

I told Patricia I had to make a stop at the restroom, but I didn't tell her why. I needed to check if the mark was a dream or not. When I rolled up my sleeve, I saw the black tattoo-like Mark of Anubis. It wasn't a dream. Senkarah was back, and she was after Nina and me.

Nina

On the plane ride from New York to London, I sat down beside Fabian, wondering how everyone was going to act when we got to Anubis House. Would they all be the same, or would they act totally different? About two hours into the flight, I feel asleep and had the worst nightmare I'd had in years. Actually, it was one of the only nightmares I'd had in years.

_ I was in the common room at Anubis House with Amber. The blonde hadn't changed a bit since we graduated. She looked over at me, hands on her hips._

_ "Nina! We're going to be late for school!" she said in a high-pitched voice. I laughed, turning my head for a fraction of a second. When I looked back at her, she wasn't Amber._

_ Senkarah was standing right in front of me._

_ I freaked. Running up the stairs, I brushed past the door to the girls' corridor, and sailed into my old room. Oh, god, Senkarah was after me. She was going to kill me. I heard someone walking by the door, and I flipped out. For some reason, I grabbed a pillow off of my bed and huddled in the corner. _

_The door flung open and Eddie dashed inside. Why was Eddie here? Was she after him too? He raced over to me, a look of fear in his eyes. I hoped beyond hope he was here to save me, but I had to ask something._

_ "Eddie? Did you see her too?"_

_ He nodded as the door was flung open. Oh, god! Senkarah was walking inside, her palms glowing with the Jackal mark. She cackled, latching onto my and Eddie's arms. I felt the burning of the mark as Senkarah laughed. I hollered in pain, as did Eddie._

_ "Revenge is sweet," Senkarah said in a low voice. "Bring me the Cup and the Mask before the end of your trip or watch your friends suffer."_

_ I tried to jerk my arm out of her grasp, but Senkarah just laughed and laughed. The room grew darker and darker, blackness surrounding me. My dream ended even though Senkarah continued laughing, the sound of it making my skin crawl._

"Nina? Nina, wake up," I heard Fabian say as my eyes flashed open.

"Fabian?" What was he doing in my room? Wait, I wasn't in Anubis House. I was on a plane going to Anubis House.

"Did you have a nightmare, Love?" he asked gently. He knew how bad nightmares affected me.

"Yeah, but it's nothing to worry about," I said to calm him down. "I'm probably just freaked about going back."

"What was the nightmare about?"

"Senkarah," I admitted. "She was mad at me, and she said something about revenge."

"You're okay, Nina. Senkarah is in the Egyptian Underworld, and she's not going to hurt you," Fabian reassured me.

I wanted to believe him, but the last time I had a dream like this, I had been marked by the spirit. After a while, I convinced Fabian to take a nap, telling him he hadn't slept since we got on the plane. Once I was sure he was asleep, I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm. I gasped.

I had the Mark of Anubis. Again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday! Sol's are taking over the library and since I update at school . . . Sorry. But anyway, so now you know what this story is about. Nina and Eddie have to give the Mask and the Cup to Senkarah or their friends "suffer." Does this suffer mean die, or get tortured? Only I know, and being the devious author I try to be, I shall not tell you! Enjoy Chapter 6: House of Hello! (Since I've seen this done so many times, here's a disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis or any of the settings/characters/challenges.)**

* * *

Chapter six: House of Hello

Fabian

As Nina and I approached the old house, I marveled at the condition it was in. I had half expected it to be run down and falling apart, but Victor must have been keeping it in good condition. We walked up to the house hand in hand, and I smiled. This was how it should be, me with the love of my life, going back to my favorite school in the world. Just as Nina reached for the door handle, the front door swung open, causing me to jump back in fright. What had done that? Nina just laughed at my reaction.

"The house is alive," she said cryptically. "It's okay."

Wondering how exactly a house could be alive, I walked inside with her, pulling my bag behind me. As we got to the entry of the common room, I heard a loud squeal, followed by a blonde tornado rushing at Nina. I laughed as I realized it wasn't a tornado but our very own Amber Millington, rushing over to give Nina a hug.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, spinning Nina in circles. "I can't believe it's been ten years since we last saw each other! How are you?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

Amber beamed at her BAF –Best American Friend –and launched into a long explanation about how she had become a photographer and how she was dating Jerome. I was shocked by that last part. Amber Millington, the beauty queen, and Jerome Clarke, the prankster, were dating? How did this happen?

"FABIAN!" Amber screeched when she saw me. "Oh my gosh, you two are still together?! That's perfect! Fabina survived!"

"Did I hear right? Rutter and Martin are still a couple?" Jerome asked, coming in from the next room. When he saw Nina and me standing side by side, holding hands, he smirked. "Well, I lost five bucks."

"Who did you make a bet with?" Amber demanded, hands on her hips.

"Eddie," Jerome admitted. "I talked to him on the phone a few days ago, and we bet if you two would still be together. I had honestly thought Nina would've came to her senses and found someone other than Stutter Rutter."

I groaned. Not that nickname again! I thought I had gotten rid of it after I left school, but I guess it was back. To these people, I would always be little, geeky Stutter Rutter. Great.

As the hours passed, more and more of the old residents came through the door until everyone but Joy was present. When Amber asked where she was, Patricia told us she contacted her a week ago and told her she couldn't make it. She was-

"On holiday with Mick?" Jerome asked for all of us. "How on earth did they find each other down under?"

"That rhymed," Amber noted slyly.

"It was supposed to," Jerome said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. I was shocked that Alfie didn't rip his throat out by the jealous look on his face. Was he still in love with Amber?

For the next few hours, we all had fun telling each other about how our lives ended up. Jerome paid Eddie the five bucks he owed him, which lightened Eddie's mood considerably. I was shocked to learn that Jerome was a lawyer. The thieving prankster from school was a lawyer? How . . . unexpected.

Once the catch-up was done, we spent an hour talking, just talking like we had when we were back in school. It was nice to see these guys again. I hadn't noticed it until now, but I had really missed my friends here at Anubis House.

Eddie

Don't get me wrong, I loved being back in Anubis House, but I felt really uneasy. With good reason, I reminded myself. I had the mark of Anubis, and I had one week to find the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis or I would die.

As everyone started to drift into different conversations, I took my chance to talk to Nina. If I had the mark, did that mean she did, too? I walked over to the petite brunette, wondering how I should ask her.

"Nina," I began slowly. "On your way here, did you have any . . . strange dreams?"

Nina's eyes grew wide. "How did you know? Oh my gosh, Eddie, do you have it, too?"

In response, I rolled up my sleeve, showing her the black tattoo-like Jackal mark. She rolled up her sleeve, showing me her matching mark, in the exact same place. We locked eyes, one thought running through both our minds.

It's happening again.

"So, are we going to do as she says?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Do we have a choice? She said she'd kill us. I'm not dying before my wedding," Nina said defiantly.

I was shocked. "You're getting married? Wow, where was I when Amber freaked and hugged you to near-death?"

Nina bit her lip. "I kind of haven't told anyone yet. Don't tell anyone, Eddie. Amber will kill me if she knows I told you before I told her. She's like my sister, and sisters normally tell one another when they're getting married."

"Well, you also tell your brother, right? So therefore it would be justified if you told me before Amber." I smirked at her. She knew I was telling the truth. "Anyway, when's the big day?"

"Next month. Fabian and I were going to send out invitations, but we decided we would tell everyone when we got here. Besides, we didn't even know some people's addresses. Anyways, back to our little problem. So, there's going to be a small Sibuna reunion?"

I was about to answer when Amber rushed over. Oh, god, how much had she heard? The blonde terror smiled at us, and lowered her voice to talk.

"Oh my gosh, there should totally be a Sibuna reunion. Tonight at midnight, okay? I'll set everything up. Tell the others."

She ran off, presumably to start decorating or whatever she was going to do. I rolled my eyes. That girl really was a blonde terror. After I was sure she had left, I turned to Nina.

"Well, this sucks," I said finally.

Nina let loose a sigh. "Yeah, but at least we're not doing this by ourselves. We've got each other, right, Osirian?"

"Of course, Paragon," I said in a formal manner. Nina laughed, and I realized that maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all. The Chosen One and the Osirian, working together to save their lives.

What could go wrong?

Nina

"It is ten o'clock!" Victor boomed from the main corridor. I looked over at the old residents of Anubis House, all of them rolling their eyes. "You have- oh," Victor said, getting his first look at who was in the common room. "Well, um, just be quiet." He left the room, confusion and embarrassment plain on his face.

Once he was gone, everyone burst out laughing. Jerome was actually doubled over in laughter. Kelly looked at us, a little confused, though she still gave a small chuckle. Alfie would have to explain it to her after we could talk again.

"Did you see his face?" Jerome gasped, trying to breathe. "It was like he had seen a ghost!"

My amusement faded a little at the word 'ghost.' I didn't think ghosts were anything to joke about, not after Senkarah came back. I didn't want to admit it, but I was actually afraid of her. When eleven rolled around, we all decided it was time to go to bed. Well, Jerome, Mara, and Kelly decided it was time for bed. The former Sibunas, on the other hand, weren't going to sleep for another few hours at the least.

I walked up the familiar stairs to my old room. It had changed dramatically. Apparently, a hippie girl had moved in recently, because the walls were covered in posters that said things like 'Go Green!' 'Peace' 'Recycle' and my personal favorite 'Save the Planet. It's the only one with chocolate!' When Amber caught sight of the decorations, she let out a startled gasp. As she looked around, her eyes got huge in shock and disgust.

"A hippie lives here? Really? What happened to good, old-fashioned pink and sparkles?" she demanded, making me laugh.

"Amber, not everyone loves sparkles and pink as much as you do. Just respect their personality, and just pretend it's just a phase you're going through," I suggested. I did not want to deal with a ticked-off Amber Millington during my stay at Anubis House. Normal Amber was difficult enough.

When she left to go set up for the Sibuna reunion, I laid down on my old bed, looking around the room. Why didn't I realize it before? Being back here was amazing and magical, and I knew I had wanted to come back for the longest time. Why didn't I notice it before now?

I stared at the ceiling for the longest time, not thinking about my last decade, but of the few years before that. I had been special, the Chosen One, but when I had left, that had been all but taken from me. Now I was back, and the house had been brought back because of it. Because of me.

I sighed, letting my eyes drift shut. _Just a few minutes_, I told myself, _and then I'll go to the Sibuna Reunion_. I sank down into unconsciousness, relaxing completely for the first time in years.

I was home.

"Nina! Wake up! You're late!" Amber hissed at me.

"What?" I said, bolting up. I had fallen asleep? How long had I been out? I looked at the clock, stunned when I saw it was 12:03. I had been asleep for over forty minutes? Why hadn't I woken myself up?

I followed Amber up into the attic, embarrassed I had fallen asleep. I couldn't believe I had been that stupid. When we arrived at the top of the stairs, I saw everyone was waiting on me.

"Sorry guys," I apologized. "I fell asleep."

"It's fine," Fabian said. "You didn't sleep well on the plane; it's understandable you would fall asleep."

"SO!" Amber cut in, stopping any more of Fabian's attempts at mushy couple stuff. "How are things with the old Sibunas?"

"Um," Patricia said, "Well, Eddie here is a writer."

"We heard that already," Amber sighed. "I mean has anyone had any adventures they would like to share?"

I decided to tell them about Egypt. "Well, Fabian and I went inside an actual tomb in Egypt, but nothing Sibuna-worthy actually happened. I mean, there was a mention of a curse, but nothing happened to us."

This peaked everyone's interests. "Ooh, what kind of curse?" Amber squealed.

"Well, translated into English it said 'Along this path you shall face the banes of the desert, which shall follow you until you die.' It means we'd be followed by snakes, lizards, scorpions, and beetles until we die, but that hasn't happened."

"Wait," I said. "What about the scorpion in your bag? Was that part of the curse?"

Fabian laughed. "No, that was one of the interns, Love. I overheard them talking about their joke on the 'up-tight geek.' I'm assuming that meant me, seeing as they snickered as I passed."

Everyone laughed. "You? Up-tight?" Patricia snickered. "As if."

"Well, anyone else?" Amber cut in before Fabian could say anything else. "No? Seriously you guys? No one has anything to say?"

"Well, I've really missed you all," I told them. "I just haven't felt really all myself until I came back. I think the house has a stronger connection with me than I thought."

Fabian gave me a worried glace. I could tell what he was thinking. _Why didn't she tell me? Does she really feel like that? Why wouldn't she tell me that?_ I reached over and took his hand, reassuring him that I was fine. Unfortunately, Amber noticed something on my left hand. Something silver and sparkly. Something I had planned on telling them about tomorrow.

"You're engaged?! Why didn't you tell us?"

Everyone started asking questions at once, deafening Fabian and me.

"When did he propose?"

"Was it romantic?"

"Was it really Fabian who asked you?"

I think that last one was from Alfie. It took me a second to realize Eddie hadn't said a thing, just sent me a smile. After everyone was done talking, he spoke up.

"Well done, sis. You two are great for each other."

I thanked him, moving the conversation to a safer topic: our old Sibuna challenges. We talked for an hour, by which time half of us were falling asleep where we were sitting. I knew tomorrow was going to be hard. Eddie and I had to start our search for the Mask and the Cup in the morning, and we only had six days left to find them.

As I made my way to my room, I thought back to the challenges we had faced the last time Sibuna had to go through the tunnels. Were they reset? Would we have to redo everything?

* * *

**So what did you think? Should I do more with the supposed 'curse?' Also, I have just now realized that I have to rewrite a future chapter (I may be posting chapter 6, but I'm writing chapter 13) because I've been re-watching season 2 (what this story is based on) and I just saw the doll house get destroyed! How did I forget about that?! I used it as an important piece in the chapter, so now I'm forced to write it again. ARGH!**

**Sorry for revealing too much about the story, dear readers, but I had to vent to someone. I apologize sincerely. Love ya lots!**

**~C**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so I know I just updated yesterday, but I have a schedule to keep up, people! I try my best to update every Mon., Wed., and Fri. So, um, thanks for putting up with me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, one of the few I've had to rewrite (you'll thank me when I tell you I had made Victor the bad guy at first. I know, stereotypical, right? So I changed it to some unknown guy who wants something from Senkarah, and no, he does not want **_**that.**_**)**

* * *

Chapter seven: House of Challenges

Eddie

At about nine thirty the next morning, I came out of my room. Everyone else was already awake, but I was still half asleep. My dreams had been haunted by Senkarah all night. She really hated me. When I got to the kitchen, Trudy, a decade older but still working hard, was cleaning up from breakfast. She noticed me, her eyes growing wide.

"Is that Eddison Miller?" she said. "The famous author? I never would've guessed that you would choose that profession, dearie, but you are pretty good at writing."

"SH!" I quieted her. "I don't want them to know what I do for a living. They think I'm a journalist like Nina. I mean, what if they don't like the books?"

Trudy laughed. "I don't think that's what your really worried about, is it? You think they might be upset if they realized you used them for inspiration without them knowing about it. Don't give me that look," she reprimanded me as I stared in shock. "I've read those novels, and it's plain to see that you based your characters on your friends."

She had me there. I had based my books on my friends, but I had no idea Trudy would've read them. I had no idea that anyone I knew would've read them. Trudy was nice enough to let me go into her kitchen and make breakfast for myself, which was something I almost never did. Patricia was a great artist, and her talent definitely included cooking. The last time I tried to help her, however, I think I gave her food poisoning.

Once I had my breakfast in hand, I made my way to the table and sat down in my seat by the end, the same place I had sat during my stay at Anubis House. Man, I had had no idea how much I had missed being here until I came back. As I ate the breakfast sandwich I made, I looked around the old house, remembering some of the crazy things that happened there.

When I finished eating, I went back to my bedroom and flipped through one of my books, The Mask of Gold. I needed to remember how to get through the tunnels. Unfortunately, Patricia hadn't helped with the first few challenges, so I had no idea what to expect. I had made up a few simple challenges, like Name the God and Place the Ankh in the Lock, but I knew those probably weren't the right traps.

I found Nina afterwards, searching the house for something. She had her locket around her neck, which I thought was a nice touch. I had no idea that she had kept it, since the locket only worked in Anubis House. When she noticed me, she ran over and trapped me in a firm grip around my arm.

"Eddison Sweet," Nina growled in a low voice. "Where were you?! I had to go to the tunnel by myself. The challenges have reset themselves! We've got to go to the Frobisher Library."

The petite brunette dragged me out of the old house and across the school grounds until we came to a semi-secluded library, one that I knew well. This was where Senkarah had tried to pull Nina to the Egyptian Afterlife all those years ago. I opened the old, creaky door and stepped inside. As both Nina and I looked around, we let out a collective gasp.

The floor had a massive crack down the very center.

Nina walked around the crack, looking on in fear and worry.  
I felt the same, and I knew that the same thought was going through both of our heads: Was this how Senkarah got out? Was this how she escaped?

I bent down and trailed a hand over the ripped floor, my hand trembling. How had this happened? What had caused this? Who had done this? As my fingers brushed the torn floor, I was pulled into my first vision in years.

_I was in the library, alone, in the dark. What was going on? When was this? The past or the future? It didn't take long for me to find out. A man walked into the library, his face shrouded under a cloak. A familiar voice came from him as he chanted in a strange language, probably Ancient Egyptian._

_Who was he?_

_As he chanted, I found I was able to understand what he said. When had I learned how to speak Egyptian? Then I heard what he was saying._

"_Ancients from the world beyond, open the gate and release the one who was taken from here! Release the spirit that you have taken from this very spot! Ancients, release the forgotten ruler! RELEASE SENKARAH!"_

_The room trembled at his words, dust raining down from the ceiling, books falling from the shelves, artifacts tumbling to the floor. I covered my head with my arms protectively, as though I could stop this with my action. As I watched in horror, a loud, echoing noise spread through the chaos. The floor seemed as though it was being pushed open from underneath._

_With a jolt, I realized that is exactly what had happened. The Ancients, whoever they were, were opening the floor to release Senkarah. The floor cracked, black smoke billowing from its depths. The cloaked figure fell to one knee, bowing before the dark spirit._

"_You have freed me," she said, taking on definition. "Why?"_

"_You have your chance at taking revenge," the figure said, his eyes trained on the ground. "The ones who trapped you there are coming back, and you have the chance to become a god again! They are weak now; they will be easily manipulated by you."_

"_I have to admit, it is a tempting offer" Senkarah mused. "But what is it you want in return? I can promise nothing."_

"_I want the Cup of Ankh," he demanded the spirit. "I need it to live forever."_

"_I can manage that, but you have to understand they may not make it out of this week alive. There is nothing you can do about it. Be gone, and I shall call on you when you are needed."_

"Eddie? Eddie?! EDDIE?!" Nina yelled, shaking my shoulders. I jerked my arm back, away from the crack in the floor. "What happened?"

"I had a vision," I said in awe. "My first vision since I left here."

"What did you see?"

I frowned. This wasn't good. "I saw a guy in a cloak release Senkarah. Whoever he is, he really doesn't like us. He told Senkarah he was fine with it if we didn't leave here alive!"

"Did anyone mention a name?" Nina whispered.

I thought back. "Um, no, she didn't, but he sounded familiar."

Nina paled. "Who would want us dead? I can't believe someone wants us dead."

Before I could tell her why Senkarah wanted the Cup, Nina darted off through the library and came running back a minute later, a hardback book in her grasp. She said nothing to me, just ran out the door and back to Anubis. I followed her, wondering where she was going. When we got there, Nina and I snuck into the kitchen. Was this really the best time for a snack?

Nina bent down and placed her locket in a lock beside an old metal oven. The locket glowed, opening the door just enough for us to crawl through. I followed Nina down the tunnel, through the cellar, and into Frobisher's secret study. Nina threw me an amulet and made me go through the bookshelf with her.

When we got inside, she placed the book on a shelf next to several other books. When she set the book in place, I realized what they spelled out. Robert Frobisher Smythe. A light started to glow from behind us, and I whipped around. A pedestal rose up from the ground, a cube resting on top. Nina immediately picked it up and broke it.

"What are you doing?!" I cried as she set the pieces on top of the pedestal.

"I'm completing the next task, idiot," Nina grumbled as she rearranged the broken cube into an unbroken pyramid. Once that was done, she took the pyramid and placed it in the hole in the design on the far wall. The room shook, making the wall move out of the way to reveal the next challenge.

"Well, that's not what I thought was going to happen, but it was cool," I said. "Do you remember what the next challenge is?"

"Hopscotch."

I looked over at the Chosen One, wondering if I had heard her right. Hopscotch? That was the best the great Robert Frobisher Smythe could come up with? Hopscotch?

Instead of going down the tunnel and playing hopscotch, Nina turned around and ran through the tunnel, heading back up to the rest of Anubis House. I followed, confused and worried. What was going through her mind?

Nina

I can't believe I forgot how to do the next challenge. I cannot believe I forgot how to do the next challenge. How could I have forgotten? You'd think that if something had your life depending on doing it correctly that you wouldn't forget how to do it, but you'd be wrong. Somehow, someway, I had to figure out how to complete the challenge, and fast.

Maybe Amber still knew how to get across the hopscotch challenge? She seemed to remember the most random things about the tunnels, so maybe she remembered the challenge? It was worth a try. So once I got out of the tunnel, I ran back up to Anubis House. I didn't care if Eddie was following me or not. I was still reeling from the embarrassment of not remembering the challenge. How could I have forgotten?!

When I found Amber, she was sitting in the common room, watching TV with Jerome. I still couldn't believe they were together, but it didn't matter at the moment. I had a more pressing matter at hand. I strode over to the blonde and grasped her arm, pulling her away from her boyfriend. She protested a little, but I was able to get her into the kitchen.

"What is it, Nina? I was watching a movie!" Amber complained.

"Do you remember the hopscotch challenge?" I asked.

Her eyes grew wide. "Why do you want to know?"

I made up a convincing lie quickly. "Um, because I was explaining the tunnel traps to Eddie, but I couldn't remember how we got through the hopscotch challenge. Please tell me you remember the order."

"Of course I do," Amber said, filling me with relief. "Bark hiss neh meow quack moo."

It took me a second to decipher what she said. Dog snake horse cat duck cow. Of course! Now I remembered it! I shot the blonde photographer a huge smile.** (A/N: I'm not sure if that's the actual path they took, but it's as close as I could manage! Also, I think I might have the combination for the door in the cellar wrong. Sorry if I do!)**

"Thanks, Amber!" I said, rushing off. I had to find Eddie and tell him about the challenge.

Before I could find the other American, Fabian came up to me. He had a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a small basket in the other. What was he up to? Though I loved him, I needed to find Eddie. I really didn't have time for this.

"Hey, Nina," Fabian said. I almost giggled. I hadn't noticed it until we came back, but during the years Fabian spent in America, he slowly started to pick up on the accent. Now he sounded like he was half American, half British. I sort of hoped that a week spent back in his home country would fix his accent. I didn't want my British fiancé to become too American, after all.

"Yeah, Fabian?" I said impatiently. I had to get back down to the tunnels. Right now.

"I was wondering if you would like to go on a picnic with me. It won't be long, but I thought we should go and have a nice lunch together. If you want, you can pick where we go."

Internally, I smirked. Maybe he'd go in the study with me? It was worth a try. "Why don't we go have lunch in Frobisher's study? It would remind us of old times."

Fabian looked at me like I was crazy, but I found I didn't care. I had to find the Mask, which meant staying close to the tunnel, but I had to keep him safe, which meant not telling him about the search for the Mask. The two problems seemed to clash a little too much to be simple, but since when was Anubis House simple?

I unlocked the entrance through the kitchen so we could sneak down to the cellar, since everyone else was in the common room and they would see us if we picked the lock to the door in the hallway. I caught a glimpse of Eddie sitting with Patricia, a worried look in his eyes as they met mine. What were we going to do?

As soon as we got down to the alcove that hid the room, I turned the combination lock until it read 1809. Once the door unlocked, I pulled Fabian inside. We spent the next few minutes setting up the picnic, laying a blanket over one of the tables and setting the flowers in a tall glass he had brought. Fabian was too good for me.

"So, why did you want to come down here?" Fabian asked as he handed me a sandwich. I had to admit, he was a better cook than me. I wasn't a great help in the kitchen. It was a running joke with us that if someone asked if I could cook to say 'She can burn water.' As we ate, I wondered how we got to where we were. I don't mean actually where we were, but relationship-wise. How did I end up with such a fantastic guy like Fabian Rutter?

Once lunch was over, I volunteered to clean up, but he wouldn't let me. I wanted to scream. I had to get back to the tunnel! I had to complete the hopscotch challenge!

"Nina, is something wrong? You seem . . . agitated," Fabian said in a concerned voice.

I sighed. "Nothing's wrong, Fabian. I just feel like there's something I'm not seeing. Does that make sense?"

Fabian laughed. "Yeah, it does, actually. Maybe there's another something going on here, and you're sensing it. It wouldn't surprise me, love. You're very intuitive."

I didn't correct him when he said I was intuitive. I didn't feel like I was, and I didn't act like I was. If I was intuitive, then I would've been able to get past all the challenges on my own, without needing help from Amber.

A thought struck me right then. If I couldn't get the Mask, would I at least be able to get the Cup? Was it still in the attic? I sincerely hoped it was. If it wasn't, then I was going to die. My friends were going to die.

If I couldn't get the Mask and the Cup, then we were all going to die.

* * *

**Um, so how'd I do? I'm sorry they're rushing through the challenges all through the story, but they only have a week, so . . . yeah. Thanks for reading you guys, and I hope you know that it means a lot to me when you review (hint hint). Now that the sappy crap is out of the way, see ya Monday!**

**~C**


	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize in advance for this chapter. Nina seems a little bipolar throughout the whole thing, going from worried to happy to sad to pissed and back to sad. All in one chapter. Sorry, but it was the only thing I could think of while typing up this chapter! So I hope you enjoy Chapter eight: House of Swing.**

* * *

Chapter eight: House of Swing

Eddie

"COME ON! HURRY UP!" Nina yelled, worry and panic in her voice.

"What was the order?!" I screamed as the ceiling descended above me.

"Dog snake horse cat duck cow!"

I looked at the carvings on the floor and ran back to the beginning. Okay, dog. I placed my foot on the dog. Snake. I jumped onto the snake. Horse, cat, duck. I hopped onto each of them in turn. Cow. Where was the fucking cow?! I was about to panic when I saw it. I jumped, letting out a sigh when I landed on it. From there, it was simple to jump off of the hopscotch board.

The ceiling stopped descending, sliding back into place. I let out a cheer. I did it! I turned to Nina and gave her a hug, which she returned happily. _We make a great team_, I thought cheerfully. Well, a great hopscotch team. Nina was still like my little sister, and she was engaged!

When I let her go, we started to walk down the tunnel. What would this challenge be? I knew there was something about a stone platform we had to cross, but to be honest I had forgotten almost everything Patricia had told me about the traps.

When we turned the corner, Nina swore. I jumped back, extremely shocked. Since when did Nina cuss? She walked over to the edge of a deep chasm that I hadn't noticed before and sat down, her feet dangling over the edge. What was she doing?

I watched her reach her hand inside a small hole in the wall and jerk her arm back. A loud, scary noise sounded from behind me. My blood ran cold. What had Nina done? What was behind me? I ran back down the tunnel, away from the noise. So what if I was a chicken? I wasn't going to face the creepy whatever-it-was behind me.

A loud BOOM sounded through the tunnel, almost deafening me. What was that? I sprinted back to Nina, almost tripping over something that definitely wasn't there when I had left. It was a large stone block, painted to look like an alligator. What?

"Help me out, Scaredy Osirian," Nina teased. She bent down to pick the stone alligator up. Confused, I helped her out. Holy crap, this thing weighed a ton! When we had it standing up on its edge, Nina instructed me to drop it on the other end of the chasm.

Though I wasn't really sure we could do it, I prepared myself to let the stone fall. It fell, hitting the other point across the pit. It wobbled for a few seconds, dangerously close to falling off. Nina held her breath, staring wide-eyed at the stone.

It stopped moving, staying perfectly still. WE DID IT! One high-five later, Nina told me to walk across the stone. I gave her a look. Surely there was something I was missing? I vaguely remembered Patricia telling me about a swing or something. A swing . . . What did she mean by a swing?

I stepped out onto the stone platform, one foot in front of the other. There was a metallic noise coming from the slots in the walls and Nina yelled out to me.

"GET BACK NOW!"

I did as I was told, hurrying back to the edge. Just as I set foot on solid ground, I heard an even louder metallic noise sounding from behind me. I turned around and my stomach dropped.

There were razor-sharp metal pendulums swinging over the chasm.

"Did you know about these?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"I forgot," Nina answered sheepishly. "I only just remembered when I heard the noise."

I turned to her, too shocked to say anything else. How could she have forgotten about the challenge? How could she not know about the pendulums? How could she have forgotten? I asked her about it, which was a huge mistake.

Nina's expression turned to guilt. A trickle of tears fell from her eyes as she hurried back down the tunnel. I ran after her, but an upset Nina is a fast Nina, so she outran me. I followed her outside, all the way across the grounds to the old summer house where the last piece of the Staff of Osiris had been hidden. Why would she run here?

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled. Where was she? I hurried to the sound of her voice. Nina was sitting on the ground, her back pressed up against a blanket of vines. She was talking to what seemed to be thin air. I crouched down beside her, placing a hand on her arm. When I did, a burst of light surrounded my vision, and I saw what Nina saw.

Senkarah was standing in front of her, demanding she get the Mask soon. The spirit was as awful as I remembered her, maybe even worse. Her black robes billowed in the non-existent winds, and smoke rolled around her, adding to the haunted effect. Senkarah's expression was one of pure hatred, and it was aimed at Nina and me.

"Osirian," she growled. "You trapped me for over a decade in the Afterlife. I do not forgive easily, but if you do as I say, then no harm shall come to you, your friends, or that insolent girl you fancy. Do as I say, the both of you, or there shall be a new timepiece. Which shall it be, Chosen One? The jokester or the pretty girl? Maybe the scholar you fancy? Or maybe I shall curse them all!"

She disappeared in an explosion of black fog. When I was sure the spirit had vanished, I turned to Nina. She had tears streaming down her face as she buried her head in her arms, her knees pulled up to her chin. Why was Senkarah trying to break her down if she wanted the Mask so badly?

When I tried to comfort Nina, she shook me off. What could I do? I couldn't just leave her like this. An idea struck me, but Nina would kill me if I did it.

_But I have no choice, _I argued with myself.

_Nina will kill me._

_I don't care._

_Yes, I do._

_But she needs to get better._

_Yeah, so help her out!_

_She won't listen to me._

_Fine, I just hope I don't feel too bad when Nina comes after me with a knife._

I shook my head. I had some pretty strange conversations with myself sometimes. Telling Nina I would be right back, I got up and took off to Anubis House. There was only one person who could help her now. As I burst through the front door, I ran right into the person I needed to find.

"Fabian!" I cried in relief. "There's something wrong with Nina!"

"WHAT?!" he yelled, eyes widening.

"You need to come now." I didn't give him time enough to ask what was wrong. I just started running back to the summer house. Fabian followed me, worry over his fiancé giving him an extra burst of speed. When we got to the abandoned place, Nina was right where I had left her. She was still crying, still huddled up in the corner, still shutting out the world.

Fabian rushed over to her and sank down beside her. I took that as my cue to leave. I didn't want to give her any more reason to kill me.

Fabian

When Eddie told me something was wrong with Nina, I almost had a heart attack. Had someone hurt her? Had Eddie? That last thought was banished as soon as it formed. He was her Osirian; he would never hurt her. I followed him to an abandoned building, one that looked a little familiar, but I couldn't place it. It didn't matter anyway. Nina was somewhere inside, and she was hurt.

I found Nina curled up in a ball, crying her heart out. My heart broke into a hundred pieces when I saw her. Whoever did this to my Nina deserved to die. I sank down beside her and pulled her into my arms, cradling her next to me.

Eddie left slowly, probably not wanting to intrude on such a personal moment between us. I didn't mind, but the least he could've done was tell me why Nina was sobbing.

As I held her, she cried and cried, occasionally saying things like "I screwed up," "I'm so sorry," "This is all my fault," and –the one that broke my heart–"I can't save them."

Who couldn't she save? What was her fault? What did she have to be sorry for? Nina was an exceptional person who always did her best to help people. She was kind and sweet, helpful and funny, perfect in every way. Well, she couldn't cook, but everyone has an imperfection that makes them perfect, right? I held onto her for what seemed like forever, though it was probably only an hour or so.

Her sobs grew fainter and fainter, until they finally stopped. When I looked down at Nina, I noticed that the only reason she had stopped crying was because she was asleep. I shook my head, torn between laughing and crying along with her. What was going on? Did Eddie know what happened? I decided I would deal with that later, but now I had to get Nina back to Anubis House.

I gently lifted her off the ground and cradled her in my arms. As I started to walk back to the house, I felt her move. She was probably about to wake up. I didn't set her down, despite what she might have wanted if she were awake. I wasn't going to leave her on the ground. As I walked back to the house, the girl of my dreams asleep in my arms, I wondered what had happened to cause this.

When I got to the house, the door opened by itself. The house wanted to help her. I took Nina past the common room, where Amber happened to see us. She rushed over and followed me upstairs, opening the door for me. I thanked her quietly as I set Nina down on her bed and pulled the blanket over her. She was a wreck, and I was going to find out what had happened, but for now I was just worried about her.

"What happened?" Amber whispered, sitting on the edge of her own bed.

"I don't know," I told her. "Eddie just told me something happened to her, and I found her crying. She managed to say a few things, but I don't even know if she was talking to me."

"What did she say? If you don't tell me," Amber added in a low growl, "then I will kill you. I don't care if your wedding _is _next month. I deserve to know what happened."

"She was saying something about her screwing up, and that she was sorry, that something was all her fault, and . . . and that she couldn't save them."

Amber stayed silent for a few seconds. "Who can't she save?"

I just shook my head, turning to face the love of my life.

Nina

I was weak. That was all there was to it. I was a weak, stupid, worthless person who couldn't even save her friends. Senkarah practically told me that if I didn't find the Mask, then she would kill everyone I cared about. A decade in the Afterlife had made her even worse, if that was even possible.

So I sat in the summer house and cried. I cried over my failure and my situation. I cried in advance for the deaths of my friends and I cried over the fact that I was going to be the reason that the love of my life was dead. I sobbed for what seemed like forever, and at some point I realized that someone had their arms wrapped around me.

I didn't care who it was, didn't think about it. I tried to tell them what had happened, but all that came out was a few, almost unidentifiable sentences. The last thing I could remember saying was "I can't save them." That was the truth. If I couldn't remember the tasks, then I couldn't get the Mask. If I couldn't get the Mask, then I couldn't save them. If I couldn't save them, then I didn't deserve to have them.

I couldn't save them.

At some point I fell asleep, my head resting on the person holding me. Well, I was in the point between asleep and awake, the place where you're dreaming but you can still hear and feel what's going on. The person I was half-sleeping on lifted me into the air and carried me away. I had no idea where we were going, but I found I didn't care. I moved a little, trying to get comfortable, because I knew that the person wasn't going to let me stay where I had been.

After a few minutes, the person set me down on something soft and warm. The warmth of the place was too much to ignore, the soft call of sleep impossible to deny. So I fell completely asleep, my nightmares haunted by the impending deaths of my friends.

The next morning, I woke up to see Fabian's face inches from mine. What the heck? He was asleep, his eyes closed in peace. Had he been here the whole night? I reached out and poked him, trying to wake him up. It worked, much to my surprise. Normally he was a much heavier sleeper, but I guess being back in Anubis House made him revert to his old Sibuna sleeping habits.

"Oh!" he said, rolling away. I laughed as he fell to the floor, his face an expression of shock. "You're awake. I thought you'd sleep longer."

"How did I get here?"

"I carried you in," Fabian said, getting up and sitting on the edge of my bed. "You fell asleep in an old building, so I had to carry you here. What happened last night?"

I bit my lip. Should I tell him? No. The last time I told him about Senkarah, he was the next one marked. I wasn't going to let him get marked again because of me. So, as quickly as I could, I came up with what I thought was a convincing lie.

"Um, I don't know," I said, internally wincing at my choice. Okay, so I was still a bad liar. "What happened?"

"I asked you first," Fabian smiled. I smiled back. He was pulling a very unfair argument, but I still couldn't tell him.

"Well, all I remember was crying, though I can't remember why, and someone carried me here. Was that you?"

"Yeah, it was. You were sobbing your heart out, and I had no idea what to do when you fell asleep. Nina, you said a few things while you were crying . . ."

"Like what?" I already knew.

"Who can't you save?" Fabian asked instead of answering.

"I don't know. Who can't I save?"

"You tell me. You're the one who said it."

I sighed. A nosy was not a good Fabian, especially not in this situation. Why did it have to be Fabian who heard me talk? Why couldn't it have been someone who knew about what was going on, like Eddie? EDDIE! He told Fabian about me crying! Rage built up in my chest as I thought about it.

I hopped up and stormed out of my room, ignoring Fabian's questions as to where I was going. I was gonna go kill me an Osirian. I found him sitting on the couch beside Patricia. Even though a small part of me hated to break up their cozy little setup, I had to confront him.

"Eddison Miller! What the HELL did you do?!" I yelled at him.

He looked up at me, shock and fear in his eyes. Good, he should've been afraid of me. He should've been afraid before he went and got Fabian!

"You slimy, dirty, rotten little RAT! How the heck did you think it was a good idea to run and get Fabian?!" I strode over and smacked him across the face. Everyone in the room –I hadn't noticed it before, but everyone in the reunion was in there –let out a gasp. Fabian grasped my arm before I could hit Eddie again.

"LET ME GO!" I yelled at him. "You have no idea what's going on!"

"You're right, I don't know what's going on," Fabian said in a calm voice. "So why don't you explain it to me?"

Everyone's eyes were trained on me, waiting for an explanation I couldn't give. Instead of answering, I dashed out of the room and picked the lock to the cellar door. I had to get through the challenges before the end of the week, even if it killed me.

When I got into the tunnel, I found the pendulums still swinging. This had taken us a week to learn last time, so how was I going to learn it in less than a day? I sat on the edge of the pit, my legs dangling off. I was going to sit here and watch the pendulums until I learned the pattern.

Two hours later, I was so bored I had actually thought about going back up. No, I had to solve this challenge. Another hour later, I heard footsteps sounding through the tunnel. Eddie marched up to me and sat down on the other side of the stone, far out of my reach.

"So, am I still in trouble?" he asked as we watched the pendulums.

"Not as much as before," I said. "But I'm still upset with you for telling him. You had no right to endanger his life."

"I didn't tell him about Senkarah, Nina. All I said was that something had happened to you."

"Yeah, but when he sat down beside me I thought it was you, and I told him everything! Thank God not that much of it came out in actual words, or Fabian would've gotten marked!"

Eddie stayed silent.

We watched the pendulums swing across the chasm for about a half hour until the pattern finally clicked in my mind. I stood quickly and walked swiftly across, Eddie looking on in amazement.

"How did you do that?" he asked as I stepped off the stone platform.

"It just clicked. Um, I'll help you out. When I say now, you take one step forward, okay?"

Eddie nodded. "Alright."

"Now!" Eddie moved a step forward, just missing the metal sun.

"Now!" He stepped forward, missing the moon.

"Now!" He missed the other sun.

"Now!" He missed the other moon, stepping off the stone platform. The pendulums swung through two more swings before they swung back into their holders. We did it! We beat the pendulum challenge!

I turned to the way forward, but I knew what was up next: the crawl space of fear challenge. We needed to face our fears, and we needed to conquer them before tonight.

I told Eddie, and he agreed that we needed to go back up. He led the way out, and on the way I let him know he was almost completely forgiven. Once we got there, we were greeted by an unhappy Patricia and Fabian.

"So, are you going to tell us why you slapped my boyfriend?" Patricia demanded.

"And are you going to tell us why you ran off to the tunnels, only to have Eddie follow you?" Fabian asked, steel in his voice.

"Um, would you take 'no' for an answer?" I asked hesitantly. I got a glass of water over my head as an answer. Geesh, Patricia still poured water and other such liquids on people when she got angry at them? As I shook my head to get some of the water off, I sighed. "Okay, so I deserved that," I admitted. "But I can't tell you what happened. It's not that I don't want to, but if you want to stay alive, then you have to trust me."

"Are you threatening us, Nina?" Patricia asked, her eyes wide in shock.

Fabian looked surprised and scared, as though he thought I was going to pull out a knife right now and kill him. Why would he think that? I would never hurt him! That's why I was warning him!

"I'm not threatening you guys! I'm just saying that my secret could get you hurt, and I don't want that to happen. If either of you got hurt, then I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"Well, Eddie seems fine," Patricia sneered. "I take it he knows?"

"Yeah, but that's only because he figured it out! I didn't want anyone to know!" I said. Okay, so Eddie found out about it the same time I did, but I didn't want for Patricia to be mad at him, too. Patricia dragged her boyfriend away from the door and outside, where I heard her yelling at him. Oops.

Fabian was looking at me, despair and rage written all over his face. Why was he angry? Why was he sad? It wasn't like I had told him my secret. When he opened his mouth to speak, a soft whisper came out.

"I'm not sure what you're doing, but I know it's not good. I'm not asking you to tell me everything, but you can't hide from me. I don't think I could take it if you hid from me, Nina. I'm not even sure if I can really trust you anymore."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can trust me! I'm just saying that if I disappear for a little while, then you need to let me stay that way so you don't get hurt. Remember the last time I had to keep a secret from you? You found out about it, and you got hurt."

The last secret I had kept from him included his sister –who by now was sixteen –and a really big stuffed bear. I had bought Fabian a huge stuffed dog for Valentine's Day one year, and his sister found out about it, so she told him. He tried to top what I had gotten him, so he found an enormous stuffed bear for me.

I think it weighed around one hundred pounds. The dog I had gotten Fabian was about half the size and a third the weight of the bear. When Fabian had pulled the bear up the stairs, he fell from the weight of it and tumbled to the bottom. He had been in the hospital for a week.

"I'm pretty sure you don't have a giant dog in the tunnel, Nina."

"You're right, it's worse. You won't just be in the hospital this time. You might end up in your grave."

"Why are you threatening me?! I cannot believe you keep telling me that I'm going to end up dead!"

"Would you just listen a minute, Fabian? I want to protect you! I don't want you getting hurt! If you can't accept that, then this is over. We are over."

With that, I stormed out.

Amber was around the corner, a worried look in her eyes. I could tell she was worried about me, but I had no idea why. Why was she worried about me? I was fine.

No, I wasn't. I had just broken off my engagement with the love of my life because he couldn't trust me. A small sob escaped my lips. I couldn't deal with this right now. I ran past Amber and locked myself in our room, not wanting to deal with the rest of the world.

* * *

**Ooh, trouble with Fabina! Is Fabian right to not trust her? Was Nina right to break off the engagement? On a random note, would you guys please read my other story on here? It's called Secrets of the Boys. It's only a oneshot, but I hope you'll like it. I'm also going to post another one, called A Day at the Pool, which is a Fabina-ish oneshot (I say ish because there's not a lot of Fabina in it, but there's next to none of the other couples). Secrets of the Boys is a slash-fiction oneshot, so if you don't like to read those kinds of things, then don't. But if you don't mind terribly, would you please do so? It would mean a lot to me!**

**Thanks for reading! ~C**


	9. Chapter 9

**OMA! I have amazing news! Even though I'm just now posting chapter nine, I have just finished typing chapter twenty-one, the very last chapter! So from now on, expect daily updates, okay? OMA, I can't believe it! I have finished typing my first story!**

**So enjoy Chapter nine: House of Sorry**

Chapter nine: House of Sorry

Fabian

Why?

Why did Nina threaten me?

Why did Nina break off our engagement?

Why?

I needed some help, so I went to the person I had gone to for help with Nina for the last couple of years: Chloe. Chloe had been my greatest help when it came to Nina, so it was only right that I asked her what to do now.

I rushed to my room and typed her name into the Skype program on my laptop. After a few minutes, her bright, cheerful face came up on screen.

"Sup geek?" she teased, twirling a light brown strand of hair around her finger.

"I need your help."

"I figured as much. What's up and what did you do wrong?" The sixteen year old girl unwrapped a stick of gum as she talked, popping it into her mouth.

I sighed. How was I going to explain? I decided to just wing it. Chloe was my sister, after all. She deserved to know the full truth.

"I'm not actually sure what happened," I admitted slowly. "But I do know that Nina broke off the engagement."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, she broke it off. I'm not really sure why, though. It has something to do with the fact she's hiding something from me. Something big."

"And did you ask her about it?" Chloe said, blowing a bubble.

"That's what started the argument," I sighed. "Nina didn't want to tell me, and I kept asking her what was happening. She was saying things like 'if you want to stay alive, you have to trust me' and 'you won't just be in the hospital this time. You might end up in your grave.' It sounds like she was threatening me."

"I don't think she was threatening you, moron. It sounds more like she's trying to protect you. What did she say just before she broke it off?"

I thought back a few minutes. When I realized what she had said, my heart dropped. "Nina said 'I want to protect you. I don't want you getting hurt. If you can't accept that, then this is over. We are over.' Oh god. I screwed up."

Chloe whistled. "Slick move, Romeo. Go apologize to my sis, okay?" I shot her a look. "What? You two have been together over a decade, so why can't I call her my sister? Well? What are you waiting for? Go say sorry!"

I thanked her for her advice and got up, forgetting about shutting down my computer. I had a beautiful woman to apologize to, after all. When I left my room, I found Amber standing outside the door, a pissed look on her face.

"Sup, beauty queen?" Chloe called from the computer.

"Hey, Clo," Amber said to her. Then she turned to me.

"What did you say to Nina?" the blonde demanded. "All I heard was a lot of shouting, and then Nina came running out of the kitchen with tears in her eyes. So what did you say to her?"

"I told her I couldn't trust her. She's keeping too many secrets from me. But I'm going to apologize to her right now."

"You had better, Rutter. I heard her sobbing her heart out. You have some serious damage control to do. Nina is heartbroken over what you did. So get your ass up there and apologize to her. GO!"

I ran past the blonde, rushing up the stairs, only to be stopped by Eddie. He looked awful, like he was fighting tears. But there was a hardness in the back of his eyes, the look that said he was extremely angry at something. I had a feeling that the something was me.

"You are an ass, Fabian," he growled. "You broke her frickin heart! Do you have any idea how hard it is for me not to cry? This is the strongest I've ever felt her feelings, and I honestly don't think I'm feeling even half of what she feels."

I felt my heart drop. Nina felt that bad? She was the one who broke up with me, not the other way around! But then I thought about it. I had been awful to her, and I had told her I didn't trust her, but it wasn't the truth. I trusted Nina with all my heart. Eddie was right. I was an ass.

"I can't believe I was so stupid," I muttered, not sure who I was talking to. "I need to go see her."

"Don't. She's not going to talk to you. I'm not even sure she'd leave you alive."

I looked at the American. "Are you telling me Nina _was_ planning on killing me?"

Eddie's eyes got huge. "What? No! Nina loves you, moron. She'd never hurt you, that's why she's telling you to give her some space. She needs to save your sorry ass, Fabian. It's like with me and Yacker. If I lost her, I'd feel like dying myself. Nina already feels like she lost you."

He left kind of quickly after that, leaving me stunned. My heart almost stopped at his words. 'It's kind of like me and Yacker. If I lost her, I'd feel like dying myself. Nina already feels like she lost you.'

_Feel like dying if I lost her._

_ Nina feels like she lost you._

Oh god. Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means. Please, please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means. I ran up the stairs, hoping to god she wasn't doing what Eddie implied she was doing. When I got to her door, it was locked.

No, no no no nonononono! I pounded my hand against the door. No, no, no! Nina's sobs echoed through the door, paralyzing my mind with fear. NO NO NO!

"NINA! Open the door! Please let me in!" My eyes were tearing up, the clear drops spilling down my face. "Please. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was wrong, Nina. I am wrong. I trust you, I really do, and I love you. I can't bear the thought of losing you, and I'm so sorry I hurt you. I know I don't deserve you, but I am sorry."

The only answer was her cries.

I stood by the door for an hour, no one coming to bother me. I wondered if I was too late, if Nina was beyond repair. What if Eddie had told me the truth? What if Nina was thinking of . . . No. Nina would never do that to herself. Never.

I sighed, resting my head against the door. Why wouldn't she let me talk to her? I just wanted to talk. I wanted to pick the lock and talk to her, but that wasn't one of my specialties. I had been more of the researcher in my high school years. I needed Jerome or Eddie to pick it for me.

My luck, which had been awful recently, turned good for just a moment. Jerome was walking down the hall, probably looking for Amber. I got his attention, motioning for him to see if he had a pin or something to unlock the door. I almost let out a sigh of relief when he pulled a hair pin out of his pocket and came over to me.

"I don't want to know, Rutter," he whispered as he unlocked the door. "Just, don't hurt her and don't get hurt, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered back. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Seriously," Jerome added in a warning voice. "Don't mention it. Ever."

"Scouts honor," I said sarcastically. "Thanks again."

As the prankster-turned-lawyer walked away, I turned back to the door. As gently as I could, I turned the door handle, opening the door. When it was open just enough for me to get inside, I slipped in, shocked by what I saw.

Nina was in the corner of the room, huddled up and staring at a photo, tears streaming down her face. I realized that the picture was one of us, one taken on her twenty-second birthday. We had gone on a picnic then, and the photo had been taken by a random passerby, who I think thought we were mad.

Nina had somehow convinced me to pose really stupid, lifting her up piggy-back style. Her eyes were lit up like stars, and her smile was so beautiful . . . She was so beautiful. I looked at her, wondering how I was going to explain myself. How could I get her to believe I was sorry?

"Nina, can we talk?"

"Go away, Fabian," she sniffled. "I don't wanna talk."

"I don't care," I said, taking a seat beside her. "I need to say this."

Nina didn't say a word, just kept staring at the photo. I decided to speak my piece anyway.

"I'm so sorry. I know that doesn't make up for anything, but I am. I was stupid and insane and careless. I don't deserve you, I never have, but I am so sorry for hurting you. I need you to know that I accept there are some things you can't tell me, and I know that it's to protect everyone, but it hurts me when you lie to me. If you can't tell me, then just say so. I promise I'll leave you alone."

Nina just sat there crying. I wanted to yell, scream, or throw a five-year-old fit if that was what it took to get her to talk to me. Why wouldn't she talk to me? I didn't care if she was going to yell, I just wanted to hear her voice.

When ten minutes passed and she didn't say anything, I stood and left. There was nothing I could do but be nice to her and hope she would forgive me. I had no idea if she ever would, but I felt so bad about what I did to her.

How was I going to make this better?

Nina

When Fabian came into my room, I tried to ignore him. I told myself that it would be better if he left, that Senkarah wouldn't have anything to threaten me with anymore, but it didn't work. Fabian was a persistent person when he wanted to be.

"Nina," he said in a gentle voice, "can we talk?"

"Go away," I managed to say. "I don't wanna talk."

Instead of leaving like I wanted him to, I listened on in horror as he started talking. He stated saying that he was sorry and he was stupid and he didn't deserve me. I listened as he said he'd leave me alone when I needed it and that he'd understand completely. My heart broke when he finished, the aching desire to tell him the whole truth almost impossible to deny.

When he left, I was sitting on my bed, back to staring at the picture. It was then, in a flash of understanding, that I knew what my greatest fear was. It wasn't skulls, death, or funerals, but loosing Fabian. Losing my Fabian was the thing that scared me the most.

I rushed out of the room, looking for Fabian, to tell him I was sorry and I loved him. Instead, I ran into Eddie. The American looked like he was about to cry. What had happened to him? Had Patricia yelled at him? Had they broken up too?

"Hey, Nina," he sniffled. "I'm really sorry about what happened between you and Fabian."

"Why are you crying?"

Eddie gave a weak chuckle. "Because you're crying. I'm connected to your emotions when they get really strong and you need protecting. Normally when I feel it I can ignore it, like if you're really ticked at someone, but times like this? I just can't."

My heart, which I had thought couldn't get any lower, dropped. I was making Eddie cry. Why was I such a screw up? It was then that I remembered what we needed to do. We only had three more days to find the Mask and the Cup, and we had a lot more challenges left.

I pulled Eddie down to the entrance to the tunnels, and told him where to find the spiders. He wrinkled his nose at the mention of the bugs, but I wasn't letting him back out. I was about to face my greatest fear, so he could deal with a few metal spiders. As he went to the common room, which was empty of people, I turned to the kitchen entrance to the tunnels.

Once I was in the tunnel, I made my way to the crawl space challenge. How was I going to face what I knew was on the other side of that grate? How was I going to face . . . I couldn't even think it. Taking a deep breath, I remembered the faces of the people who meant most to me. They were why I was doing this. They were why I was facing my biggest fear.

Taking one more breath, I slid inside the tunnel.

The first few minutes were okay. It was dark and a little cramped, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then I heard the first whisper. It was too soft to hear well, but I knew it was there.

_It's just the tunnel_, I reminded myself, _it's just the tunnel. _

I hoped I could make it through, but now I wasn't so sure. The whispers weren't whispers anymore; now it was like someone was talking in my ear. I shivered at what the voice was saying.

"You're nothing to me," it said in Fabian's voice. "I don't care for you; I don't care about you at all. I hope to god I never see you again."

I let loose a sob. No, that wasn't true. Fabian still loved me, he said as much upstairs. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I heard the voice speak again.

"I don't love you. I never loved you. You're not the Chosen One, you're the Forgotten One. No one has ever loved you, Nina. All this time, I was just pretending. I do not love you."

I cried and cried as I crawled down the tunnel. I had to find the lever and get out of here. Now. When the end of the tunnel came into view, I saw the worst sight of all. Fabian's lifeless body was on the ground beside the lever, a note lying on his chest. I read it, my heart almost stopping.

_You could have saved me._

I reached over his lifeless corpse, grasping the lever in my palm. With a huge _yank_, I pulled it down. There was a slight rumble that reverberated through the tunnel, and all the things that disappeared, including Fabian's corpse. I sighed in relief. My nightmare was gone.

I crawled backwards out of the tunnel, determined to go find Fabian. However, Eddie was waiting outside the crawl space for me, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you alright? I felt your emotions."

I sighed. "I'm fine. The challenge was just a little too scary."

"What did you see?"

I looked up at my Osirian, the horror of the last few minutes coming back to haunt me. "I-I s-saw . . . I-I saw . . ."

**So how'd I do? What did you think of Nina's greatest fear? Originally, I was going to have Eddie go through the crawl space, but I had no idea what his greatest fear would be. Just out of curiosity, what do you think Eddie's greatest fear would be? I'd love to know what you think! (Maybe it would be that pancakes would attack him because he eats so many? Heehee) Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	10. Chapter 10

**Told you I'd update once a day! Hope you like this story. I can't believe that so many people like this story. It means so much to me that you guys actually like this story and have read it. Sorry I'm going on and on with the sappy crap, but that's just how I am. So, I hope you enjoy Chapter ten: House of Spiders (P.S. Can you believe this is chapter ten?)**

* * *

Chapter ten: House of Spiders

Nina

"I-I s-saw . . . I-I saw . . ." I trailed off, not sure how to continue. Eddie held up a hand, stopping my words.

"Don't," he said. "I think I know. Let's just do the challenge tonight, okay? I think you need to go see a certain geek about an apology."

I smiled up at him, glad he understood. As I rushed out of the tunnel, I knew that whatever Fabian told me, whatever he said, it was nothing compared to what the tunnel had said to me. I found everyone sitting in the common room, watching a movie. Fabian wasn't in there.

"Hey, Neens," Amber said hesitantly, as though she was afraid of what I might do. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, I need to tell Fabian something. Have you seen him?"

"I think he's in his room," Alfie said, sitting with his arm around Kelly's shoulder. "He hasn't been out in a while."

I ran out of the room, darting down the hall until I came to his door. What to say, what to say? How could I explain anything? How could I tell him what I needed to tell him? A thought occurred to me, but I banished it as soon as it formed. No, it wasn't an option.

I knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern; _knock knock-knock knock_. It was a habit of ours to knock like that when we needed to talk. When Fabian opened the door, I launched myself at him, grabbing him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry! I was stupid and selfish and cruel. I don't deserve you, and I understand if you want to keep the engagement off, but I needed to say that I was sorry and I –" I was cut off by Fabian planting a gentle kiss on my lips.

"Nina, love, its okay. I understand. You needed a little space, and I was demanding that you tell me everything. It's my fault," Fabian said, a smile playing at his lips.

"But it's not your fault. I'm the one keeping secrets that I have no business keeping." I somehow found myself about to tell him everything when I stopped. "I wish I could tell you, but she'll hurt you."

Oops. I hadn't meant to let that slip.

Fabian's eyes widened. "Who?"

_Eddie's going to kill me_, I thought before I went ahead with my explanation. Instead of actually telling him, I rolled up my right sleeve, displaying the black Jackal on my arm. Fabian needed to know the truth.

Eddie

When everyone left the common room, I made Patricia stay with me. I wanted to spend a little time with her. She sat down beside me, watching me bounce in my seat. I was nervous that she'd find out about Senkarah.

"Eddie?" Patricia said, sitting down next to me. "Are you okay? You seem a little . . . off."

I gave a nervous chuckle. "What do you mean? I'm acting fine, just like normal."

"No, you're not," she stated. Patricia gave me a look of worry. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" I said a little too quickly. Patricia gave me another look, this one full of suspicion. After a while of begging, pleading, and even threatening, I finally broke down. She deserved to know.

"There's something you don't know," I told her, not sure how to continue.

"What? Are you cheating on me?" Patricia joked. When I didn't say anything, she gave me a horrified look. "You are, aren't you? Oh, god, please tell me you aren't cheating on me." She got up, staring at me.

"What? NO! I'd never cheat on you," I told her. "It's not about our relationship, Patricia." That got her attention. I hardly ever called her Patricia, unless it was serious. Sighing, I rolled up my sleeve, showing my girlfriend the Mark of Anubis on my arm.

"WHAT?!" she screeched. She grabbed my arm, tracing the Jackal mark the ghost left on me. "Is she back?"

I nodded, sighing dejectedly. Patricia shocked me by grabbing me in a hug, almost suffocating me with her worry. I tried to pry her off, but it didn't work. About five minutes later, Fabian and Nina walked in, a stern look on their faces. I was about to ask what was wrong when Nina rolled up her sleeve, revealing the Mark to Patricia.

"Not you too!" she cried, letting me go. I watched in amusement as my girlfriend latched onto my best friend, holding onto her and trying to hold back tears. "How many more?"

"It's just us. But now you guys might get marked," Nina said. "I can't believe we put you two in danger."

Patricia laughed. "You put us in danger? More like we forced ourselves in danger. Fabian begged you for hours to tell him the truth."

Nina let loose a giggle, surprising us all. She was laughing? Was she bipolar or something? I swear, the woman had gone through more emotions in the last two days than most people went through in a week.

After we filled Patricia and Fabian in on the challenges we had gotten past, I walked over to the painting of Frobisher and found the 'silver thread of fate' behind the painting and tugged on it. A semi-loud noise came crashing down from the ceiling, and a large metal spider descended from the roof. I gasped in shock. That was not how I imagined it coming down.

Nina rushed over and pulled the spider from the wires holding it up. She took it to Fabian's and my room, the only room shared by two people who knew about the challenges. When we got in there, he took the spider apart and pulled out three smaller spiders.

"You all remember what we have to do?" Nina asked everyone in the room. We all nodded. This challenge was the only one I remembered form the ones Patricia told me about.

We had to navigate through the multi-colored strings that each had their own dangers. The silver ones felt like a spider bite, the yellow ones messed with our vision and minds, and the red one brought death. Or at least, that's what we thought. No one hadn't actually tested it.

We hurried down to the tunnels and I got my first glimpse at the spider web challenge. Hundreds of colored threads criss-crossed the room, threatening us with their simple looks. My breath caught as Fabian took one of the small spiders and weaved under and around the threads, easily navigating the deadly challenge.

"We've still got our master web walker!" Nina cheered. Fabian laughed, setting the silver spider on the hook. Next it was Patricia's turn.

"Good luck," I whispered, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"I'll be fine," she reassured me, ducking and weaving to get to the yellow hook. Once she got there, she placed it easily on the hook. I felt a shudder run through the room as Nina made her way to the red hook. A panel opened up behind her as she placed the spider on the hook.

After flashing a smile at us, she dove inside just before the panel closed over. I shouted in terror, but everyone else just yelled at me to get to the other end of the room. As best I could, I made my way to the other end, only touching a single silver thread along the way. Ouch.

I placed the spider in the hole in the wall, setting each of the legs in place. When the last one was set with a _click,_ the room shook. I watched in awe as the threads shot to the walls, disappearing into small holes in the walls. The panel where Nina disappeared opened back up, letting us get back to her.

She rushed out, grabbing Fabian in a hug. There was a wild look in her eyes, like she had seen something in there. I wondered what she had seen, but before I could ask, Nina spoke.

"I got scared by the lion head again," she admitted sheepishly. "Its eyes glowed red and I kind of freaked."

"You're okay, love. It's just a mural, nothing more," Fabian said, leading the way to the next challenge. My attention was drawn to the mural on the stone circle. It was of a terrifying lion face, tendrils of its mane drifting outwards to the edge of the circle.

Along the walls of the room, shelves of bottles sat everywhere. As looked at the walls, I noticed black script painting each and every wall. Six phrases were there, all saying something else. I saw that one of them said 'The mourning essence.' What did that mean?

Fabian crossed the room and started reading all of the words written. After that, he went around collecting several glass bottles. Wow, he was such a nerd. He poured equal parts of each substance into the stone circle, watching the solution drain into the pipe leading to the door.

"Stand back," Fabian warned. "This might turn out bad."

He was right. Once the solution reached the door, a red glow surrounded the door. The goo around it exploded in a flash of light. I threw my hand up in front of my face, hiding from the explosion.

When I looked back, the wall fell away, revealing another tunnel. I knew where it led: the room with the four horns placed on a pole. We needed a . . . a . . . Oh, what was it?

Fabian led us through the dark tunnel, leading us to the study. We all took a seat around the room, looking at our resident Egyptologist. Fabian smoothed his dark hair out of his face before he spoke.

"Let's find the ox bell tomorrow. It's almost dinner, and Amber and Kelly want us all to watch a movie tonight," he said.

Nina nodded. "Yeah, and we still have three days to do the rest of the tasks. Let's have fun tonight."

And with everyone agreeing on something for maybe the first time, we walked upstairs to greet the rest of the house.

* * *

**Okay, so what did you think? Also, I apologize in advance for the next chapter. Since there wasn't all that much Peddie (read: none) since the reunion started, I thought I'd make a filler chapter about them! I'm calling it House of Tears because there's a mention of the only two movies that have made me cry. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	11. Chapter 11

**Just so you know, I do not own House of Anubis. If I did, I totally would've left Joy dead at the end of season 2 (sorry to all of you who like Joy, but I think she's a bitch, which is why I left her out of this story). Also, I do not own _P.S. I Love You_ or _Pay It Forward._**

* * *

Chapter eleven: House of Tears

Patricia

When Fabian suggested we go to movie night, I thought it was a great idea. I'd get to spend time with Eddie, which I hadn't really been able to do since we got here. I walked with him into the common room, trying to understand what had happened in the last three days.

Eddie must have gotten marked on the plane, while he was asleep. I had figured that he had just been having a nightmare, but I guess it was when he got marked. I cussed myself out silently, wondering how I had let Senkarah hurt him without me even knowing.

A part of my mind reminded me that it wasn't my fault, that Senkarah would've marked him anyway. Another part of my mind told me it was all my fault, that if I had woke him up, he wouldn't have gotten marked.

I sat down beside Eddie when we got to the common room, where everyone else was already sitting. Amber was snuggling up to Jerome, Alfie was next to Kelly, and Mara had staked out the only chair. It was still a little odd to see Jember or whatever they were called, but it was a little sweet, I guess. I wasn't too good with sweet. When Kelly put the movie in, half of the room groaned. We were watching _P.S. I Love You._ I hated this movie! It always made me cry.

Eddie snickered. "Don't worry, Yacker. I'm here for you."

"Oh, shut it," I said playfully, giving him a small shove. Mara brought popcorn around for us all, handing each couple a bowl. Eddie and I shared, but by the time the movie started, I was too entrapped to care about the popped, buttery snack.

It was a good movie, but it was so sad. I cried through most of it. Yes, you heard me right. I, Patricia Williamson, cried. The film was so depressing, and it made me think of what would happen if Eddie was dying. Would he leave me letters like this? If the situation was reversed, would I leave them for him?

When the movie finished, I was bawling like an idiot. Eddie had his arm wrapped around my shoulder, reaching for a tissue. _Ha,_ the part of me that still had some sense thought. _He's crying, too_. As I looked around, I saw that every woman in the room had tears streaming down their faces. Fabian and Eddie were the only two guys who were crying.

I watched Fabian wrap Nina in a hug, telling her she would be okay, that it was just a movie. I leaned on Eddie, still crying. Then Mara put in her choice for a movie. _Pay It Forward_. I had no idea what it was about, but it sounded interesting. Besides, it might get me to stop crying.

I was so wrong.

Pay It Forward was nice at the beginning, but it got progressively sadder as it went on. At the end,** (A/N: SPOILER ALERT!)** the little boy who started the movement was stabbed trying to finish his three good deeds. When he died, several loud sobs came from everyone in the room, even Jerome.

Victor came into the room, his mouth open to yell at us when he saw our faces. His own face betrayed the shock he was feeling at our tears. I would've laughed if I hadn't been crying so hard.

"Are you . . . Is everyone . . . What happened?" Victor was finally able to choke out.

"Victor, they just watched two very sad movies," Trudy said, coming around the corner, drying her hands on a towel. I think she had worked in her garden for a while and had just washed her hands, but I was too busy crying to remember.

"Well, why on earth would you do that?" Victor asked us, confusion plain in his voice.

"We -we want t-to watch the m-movie," Amber said through her tears. "We f-forgot it w-would m-make us c-cry."

"Y-yeah," Kelly added, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "I f-forgot the s-story was s-so s-s-sad."

"Well, just keep it down. I don't want to hear anything coming from this room." Victor turned on his heel and walked out, stomping up the stairs.

After he left, I looked over at Eddie, who had tears flowing down his face. A small part of me wanted to laugh. It looked like he had trapped Niagara Falls in his eyes, and the floodgates were open. He reached up to my face and wiped away a tear, not that there wasn't another one to replace it, but I appreciated the gesture.

I laughed through my tears and handed him a tissue. At least my Slimeball wasn't afraid to cry. I knew quite a few guys who never showed any emotion. Ever. Eddie, however, wasn't afraid to show how he felt. Well, sometimes he hid his feelings, like when he knew they would hurt mine.

Eddie leaned over and kissed me gently, taking my mind off the movie. When I kissed him back, leaning into it, I almost forgot we were in a crowded room. That's when Amber cleared her throat, making us jump apart in guilt. Amber and Kelly laughed at the red in our cheeks.

"Aw, aren't they just adorable?" Kelly said, a smile on her face.

"Peddie is still alive, after all. I was a little worried, seeing as you two haven't really talked since you got here," Amber said. I realized with a small jolt that she was right. We hadn't really talked since the reunion started.

Then again, Eddie had been busy with the challenges. He only had three more days left, and he hadn't even gotten past the song of . . . the song of . . . Drat, I couldn't remember the name.

I sighed, resting my head on Eddie's shoulder. Even though he was still a little bit of a smartass, he was my smartass, and I knew that he would do anything for me. Eddie set his head on top of mine, and I swear I could feel his smile.

I didn't remember falling asleep. All I remembered was feeling happy and comfortable and . . . safe. Really, really safe, and it was all because of Eddie. He may have been Nina's protector, but I knew he would do all he could to protect me.

I knew that Eddie loved me.

And that was all that mattered.

* * *

**Aw, Peddie love! I thought this story could use a cute fluff chapter about Peddie, considering there is very little (read: none) Peddie after chapter three or four. NOTE: I will not be able to update on Monday! There's a three-day-weekend at school coming up, so I won't be able to get on a computer that has internet! Thanks again to all of you readers who have stuck with me through these eleven chapters. Sorry for the sappy crap –I know it must get annoying –but that's just how I am. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	12. Chapter 12

**So welcome to another chapter I had to rewrite! How I could forget so much that happened in my favorite season of House of Anubis is beyond me. Originally, I had Senkarah's crown in the school as well as the bell, but I just watched the season finale and the crown was disintegrated. Just my luck, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter twelve: House of Music.**

* * *

Chapter twelve: House of Music

Fabian

"So," I said after the three others and I gathered in the room I shared with Nina. "Does anyone remember the Song of Hathor?"

"Senkarah does," Nina whispered, as though the spirit would come at the mention of her name.

"We'll leave that as a last resort," Patricia said. "I don't think it's a good idea to get her involved."

"I agree," I nodded. It was then that Eddie reached for Nina's shoulder, attempting to console her. Instead of being a comfort to her, he stiffened up, a look of blank nothing entering his eyes.

"Eddie?" Patricia said nervously. "Eddie?"

Eddie's head swung to his girlfriend, the blank look still there. She snapped her fingers in front of his face. Eddie shook his head, a look of understanding in his gaze instead of the blank one.

"I know the song," he said proudly. "But there was an odd note at the end. It didn't sound like a horn."

"That's because it's an ox bell," I told him. "The last note is played on an ox bell."

"Wasn't there one in the exhibit?" Nina said excitedly.

"Is the exhibit still here?" Patricia asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted slowly. "But I'll check."

Before anyone could say anything, I darted out of the room and ran to Trudy. She was busy in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes and humming to herself happily. I walked over to her and started chatting with the older woman.

"Hey, Trudy," I said, taking a pile of dishes from her and putting them away.

"Oh, hello Fabian. I didn't see you there," the black-haired woman said, a little startled. "Thanks for your help, dearie."

"No problem, Trudy," I told her, putting the dishes in the cabinet. Then I got to my question. "Um, do you remember that traveling exhibit that came here while I was in school?"

"You mean the one I worked on? Of course, why?"

What to say? I made up a lie on the spot. "Oh, I was just wondering if it was still here. I wanted to take one last look at it. Sentimental reasons, you understand," I added.

"Well, the exhibit isn't here anymore, but we were allowed to keep one of the artifacts."

"Which one?"

"Oh, the old ox bell," Trudy said absently as she worked on the dishes.

"The old ox bell?"

"Yes, the old ox bell, the one that Vera stole."

"Thanks, Trudy!" I thanked her, dashing out of the room. I paused by the door. "Um, where is it kept?"

"Oh, in the school, in the student lounge. Go ahead and go see it, dearie. I know that you're an Egyptologist, and it is right up your alley."

I thanked her again and ran to tell the others. They were all surprised that the only things the school kept was the thing we needed. Nina was worried when I told her they didn't have the Mask, but I told them about a passage in one of Frobisher's journals that I had read a day or two ago.

"The Mask is in the tunnel this time," I told them. "I found a passage that said Frobisher replaced the fake Mask with the real one just before he left for Egypt after the whole mess with Ammut."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get the bell!" Eddie said happily. He took off, running out of the room. We all followed him, Patricia calling out to yell at him every so often.

Eddie

When I put my hand on Nina's shoulder, I was trying to comfort her. Instead, I was pulled into a vision.

_I was in a dark room, the walls covered in ancient writing that I could barely see. I looked around, hoping to see something worth telling the others about._

_A beautiful yet haunting melody drifted around me, enchanting me with its simplicity. How could such a simple tune be so beautiful? The song played three times, just enough for me to learn the notes. As the vision faded, I could still hear the Song of Hathor._

"I know the song," I said proudly as I came out of the vision. "But there was an odd note at the end. It didn't sound like a horn."

"That's because it's an ox bell," Fabian said.

"Wasn't there one in the exhibit?" Nina said excitedly.

"Is the exhibit still here?" Patricia asked.

"I'm not sure," Fabian admitted slowly. "But I'll check."

Before anyone could say anything, he darted out of the room. He came back a few minutes later, a smug look on his face. He told us the ox bell was in the student lounge. Perfect.

After Fabian told us where the ox bell was, I dashed out of the room and ran to the school. I had to get that bell. When I got to the front of the school, Dad was just walking out, getting ready to lock the door behind him. I rushed over, trying to get there before he locked it.

"Hey Dad," I said, trying not to gasp for air. Holy crap, that had been a long run.

"Hello Eddie. Oh, hello everyone," he added as he saw the others behind me. "What brings you here?"

"Fabian here wanted to see some of the left over artifacts from that traveling exhibit," Patricia said, nudging Fabian's shoulder. "Trudy said that one of the pieces was still here."

"Ah, yes. The old ox bell," Dad said. "Well, don't let me stop you. Go ahead, take a look. Just don't take anything, alright? We don't want a repeat of what happened last time."

Fabian winced. "Yeah, sorry about that, Mr. Sweet. It had been a bad week for me."

"It's alright, Fabian. You didn't steal it, so no harm done."

Dad walked away, leaving the front door of the school wide open. I looked at my friends in amazement, wondering how we had gotten so lucky all of a sudden. We walked down the familiar halls, all the way to the student lounge, the place where I had first met Patricia.

In a locked glass case in the corner of the room sat the artifact. On the top shelf rested the Frobisher shield and on the second . . .

"The ox bell!" Nina cried out in joy. She rushed over and examined the case. "A standard lock, one easily picked. Does anyone have a hair pin?" Patricia handed her one.

"Thanks, Trixie," Nina said, using the pin to unlock the case. Patricia rolled her eyes. She didn't like the name Trixie anymore, which was why I called her that every so often.

When Nina got the case unlocked, she pulled the bell out with care. Once it was out of the glass case, Nina slipped it into her bag. She gave us a blazing smile, and we took off to the house. Once we were inside, Fabian addressed the group.

"Okay, we've got around twenty minutes until someone realizes the bell is missing," he said. "Let's get this challenge done, shall we?"

"Ooh!" Amber squealed from behind us. "What challenge? Is this like a little Sibuna-task challenge like in school, or is it just a boring challenge?"

I looked around the group. What were we going to tell her? Nina gave us all a look, one that practically yelled 'we have to tell her.' A huge sigh came from everyone else, but we gave her the go ahead.

"Amber, you remember the Mask, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Amber said. "Crazy spirit, golden mask, creepy tunnels? Who could forget that?"

"Well, we kind of have to get the Mask back," Nina said nervously.

"Why?"

"Because Senkarah is back," the petite brunette told our blonde friend.

Amber's eyes got huge. "Oh my gosh! What challenge are you on now?"

"The Song of Hathor."

"Wow, all those challenges in four days? I'm impressed. Let's go! Oh, do you have an amulet for me?"

Nina smiled and pulled one of the spare amulets out of her pocket. "Here you go."

"Hey, this is the same one I had earlier!" Amber squealed as she slipped the clay amulet around her neck.

That went a lot better than I had expected. I had thought she would've freaked out, but this _was_ Amber we were talking about. She seemed to take the weird things and think that there was nothing wrong with them.

When we got to the four horns down in the tunnels, we all walked around and took a place at one of the horns. Amber volunteered to be the one to hit the bell at the end.

"Okay, so Eddie will point to us when it's our turn, right Eddie?" Nina said, looking at me.

"Right. Let's do this," I said with a confidence I didn't feel. We started playing the haunting tune I had heard in my vision, me pointing to each member of the group as their note came up. When Amber hit the bell at the end, we all fell silent. Did it work? Then the room started to vibrate.

Amber and I freaked out, seeing as we were the only two who hadn't been through this challenge before. Patricia, Nina, and Fabian were as calm as could be when the door opened up to reveal the next challenge. We did it!

"Okay, now we need to remember the reflective objects for the next challenge," Nina said, taking charge of the situation. "Does anyone remember them?"

"Well, there was the doll's eye," Fabian said.

"And the setting sun glass thingy in the attic," Amber said cheerfully.

"Good, so does anyone remember any of the others?" I asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Didn't think so. Let's go look for shiny things, then."

"Wait they have to have the falcon symbol on them," Nina reminded us. "So, should we go looking?"

"Yes," Amber said. "But there's one other thing we need to do."

"What's that, Amber?" Patricia said. "Put on another layer of lip-gloss?"

"No, Patricia. We need all of Sibuna for the sennet game, don't we? And six finders are better than five. We need to tell Alfie about the new Sibuna challenge."

"You're right," Nina said. "Alfie deserves to know. And besides, it's not like he doesn't remember Sibuna. If he doesn't want to join again, he doesn't have to."

With that settled, Nina did something that shocked us all.

"Sibuna?" she said, holding her right hand over her right eye.

"Sibuna," we all said together, copying her motion.

Sibuna was finally together again.

* * *

**So what do you think? Are they right to include Alfie in the search? RANDOM SURPRISE! I'M WOKRING ON A SEQUEL! It's going to be called House of Wedding, and a certain person is bent on ruining Nina's wedding. I've got a poll on my profile about Nina's dress. Should she have a simple dress or an extravagant one? I've got two pictures of the dresses that I'm going to try to put on my profile as well so you can see what they look like before you vote. PLEEEEEEEEEESE vote! I need your opinion! Thanks so much for reading!**

**~C**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, so I had to rewrite this chapter, so parts of it may not make sense! I had completely forgotten that the doll house had been smashed (and if you've read the author's note on chapter 6, you already know this) so I used it in this chapter! Now I've rewrote it, I hope it still makes sense. Cross your fingers for Chapter 13: House of Shine.**

* * *

Chapter thirteen: House of Shine

Amber

I knew it was stupid of me to suggest endangering Alfie, but it didn't feel right to have all but one of the Sibunas searching for the Mask. I knew we didn't need to search for the Cup, though. No one had moved it since Nina put it in the tunnel all those years ago, and now we were at that same challenge.

I was the first to find Alfie. He was in his bedroom, playing around with a ping pong paddle and ball. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. All these years and he's still trying to get better at ping pong?

I knocked softly on the side of the doorway, getting his attention. Alfie's eyes lit up as he saw me. I wondered why, I mean we hadn't exactly parted on good terms.

"Hey Alfie," I said, wondering how to continue.

"Hey Amber," he chirped, setting his paddle on the floor. "What's up?"

Before I answered him, I leaned out of the room and shouted for Nina. I ducked back in, seeing Alfie's confused expression.

"What's going on? Is this a prank?" he asked, crossing his arms.

The Sibunas walked in before I could answer.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Alfie asked, repeating the question he had directed at me.

"Remember the challenges in the tunnels?" Patricia asked.

"Of course."

"Do you remember the reflectors for the constellation challenge? You know, the one that made the bird?"

"Some of them. The doll's eye, Victor's pocket watch, the stained-glass setting sun, and the music box's mirror," Alfie replied.

"Of course!" Nina said, clasping her hands together. "The music box! And I brought it with me! Perfect!"

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Alfie demanded, grabbing our attention. In response to his question, Nina and Eddie rolled up their right sleeves, revealing matching Marks of Anubis.

Alfie and I both let out a gasp. I had had no idea that Senkarah had marked them! Why hadn't they told me?

"What are we waiting for?" Alfie asked. "Let's go find those reflectors!"

"Sibuna?" Nina asked, holding her hand over her eye.

"Sibuna," we repeated, copying the movement. It was official now.

Sibuna was back together.

An hour later, I was searching for the porcelain doll in the attic. It seemed like the most obvious place to store an old doll, but I was having no luck. I actually found myself wishing for the doll house again, hoping for a clue. But the doll house was no more, having been destroyed by Alfie over a decade ago. Nina, who had been helping me look for the doll, came over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I miss the doll house, too. It sucks that it got destroyed, but at least Alfie managed to save you guys, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, but how do we find the doll now? I mean, where is it?"

"Maybe it's in the common room?" Nina suggested.

It was a good idea as any, so I agreed we should go look. Nina and I went down the stairs and into the common room. Was the porcelain doll even in here? I looked around, wondering if we were just missing it, when I saw the little doll sitting on a shelf. A smile lit up my face. I found it!

I took the doll from the shelf and inspected the eye. In the reflective surface of the glass eye, there was an outline of falcon. Yep, it was one of the reflectors. I handed it to Nina, who rushed upstairs to hide it.

I myself went to the attic to look for a clue to any of the others. Now we had three of the six reflectors. We were still missing Victor's pocket watch and the other two that we couldn't remember. I sighed, looking at the old doll. Maybe it would give us a clue about the other two reflectors.

"Wait, wasn't there a cup?" Alfie asked, coming up the stairs.

"Yeah," Nina said distractedly. "It was a medicine cup with red-and-gray glass, why?" Then she realized what she said. "Oh! Right, let's go get the cup."

We all ran down to the kitchen, thankful that no one was around. I went to the cabinet and started looking for the pretty glass cup that I now somewhat remembered. I spotted a bit of red glass at the back of the cabinet and squealed in delight when I pulled it out.

The glass at the top was a deep red, but it faded to an almost clear color, which then faded to a pretty gray. I traced my finger over the gold-painted scarab and the grayish falcon. I found it!

Now all that was left was the one thing we couldn't remember and Victor's pocket watch. I raced up the stairs to put the cup with the other three reflectors. We were hiding them under Nina's bed, which didn't seem all that smart, but we were desperate.

I met the rest of Sibuna upstairs. I could tell they were bored to tears, having been waiting there for a while, but they were keeping an interested look on their face. I smiled, pleased with the work we had done in just a few hours. I had only been aware of the Sibuna return for one day, and already we had gotten through the music challenge and most of the way through the falcon challenge.

Someone suggested we go look in Victor's office. I groaned. We all knew his pocket watch was in his office because he was in his office. Alfie volunteered to distract Victor so we could snatch the watch, and since we didn't have a better plan, we let him go ahead.

Five minutes later, Alfie was in the hall way in front of Victor's office, balancing a ping pong paddle on his nose. He was singing very poorly in his loudest voice, trying to get Victor to come out.

The door to Victor's office opened, revealing a very pissed Victor. He marched over to Alfie, who dodged him, teasing Victor into following him down the stairs. I had to bite my lip to hold back a laugh. Alfie was such a goof sometimes.

I stood watch with Fabian and Nina as Patricia and Eddie snuck into the office and looked around for the watch. Three minutes later, just as Victor was coming up the stairs, they ran out, Patricia's hands closed around something with a chain.

We all dashed back to the room I shared with Nina, adrenalin and energy rushing through us. I laughed, sweeping my blonde locks over my shoulder, fixing my hair. I had forgotten how much_ fun_ running and sneaking was!

We all sat around the room, looking at each other. Suddenly, we all let out a laugh. None of us knew why we were laughing, but it got so bad that tears were streaming down our faces. I had no idea if anyone could hear us, but I found that I didn't really care.

A few minutes later, the door opened, revealing Jerome standing there, a stunned look on his face. He looked at me, a silent question in his gaze. I just kept laughing. Jerome walked over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"What's going on?" he asked, ignoring the others in the room.

"N-nothing," I laughed. "I'm not act-actually sure."

"Jerome, maybe you should take Amber and go out," Nina suggested. "You haven't really spent any time together since you got here."

Everyone took the idea instead of just Jerome, and somehow we were all going out dancing that night. Now we had until tonight to finish the task. I made Jerome leave, telling him I had to work on my hair –it had once taken me three hours to perfect my look, so he wasn't all that surprised –and turned to my fellow Sibunas. Fabian suggested a memory game to help us remember the missing reflector, which we all reluctantly agreed to.

"First up, Patricia," he said cheerfully while Patricia groaned. "Cat."

"Dog."

"Moo."

"Sheep." She got a quizzical glare for that one.

"Reflector."

"Doll's eye. Shoot, I knew this wouldn't work."

Fabian rolled his eyes, but played the game with each of us in turn. Alfie's guess for the reflector was the cup, and Nina's was for the pocket watch. Then it was my turn.

"Okay, Amber. Ready?"

"Of course."

"Mouse."

"Squeak."

"Dog."

"Bark."

"Muppet."

"Kermit."

"Reflector."

"Mosaic. Oh my gosh! The mosaic piece!" I cheered. "I think I saw it in the library a few days ago. Come on, let's go get it!"

A few minutes later, all of the Sibunas were looking in the library for the very ugly mosaic. I heard a snide comment or two from Alfie, but we had no luck. Finally, Patricia called out something useful.

"Found something!"

We all ran over to her, joyful when we saw the really ugly glass-and-clay mosaic. Nina pulled out the large piece of glass, emerald in color, and branded with the falcon. I smiled at the group.

"Do you know what this means?" I asked them. Judging by their clueless looks, I guessed not. "We can complete the challenge!"

Nina used her locket to open the library entrance to the tunnels, leading us right past the Cup of Ankh. Nina promised we'd come back for it when we needed it. When we got to the challenge, we giddily placed the reflectors on the staffs.

The glowing blue light shot from each reflector to the next, creating a huge falcon out of light. I had to hold back a happy-cheer as the door to the Mask chamber opened, revealing the scary sennet game. We still had three days to get through this challenge, so we were going to go dancing.

I would have to literally drag Nina up to our room to get ready, but I knew it would be worth it.

* * *

**Can't wait for some cute Fabina fluff! Anyway, the next two chapters are fillers, so sorry in advance. Oh, and school ends soon, so if I don't update but once a week over the summer, I apologize. So, um, OH! I have something to announce! There is a good story by Everysingleword, a friend of mine, that you should read. It's called The Beginning of Destiny, and the chapters might be a little short, but it's totally worth checking out. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own House of Anubis, nor Castle, Charmed, or Supernatural, which I used in a few references in here. If you notice them, then good for you! If not, I'll tell you what they are at the end. I hope you enjoy Chapter fourteen: House of Dance.**

* * *

Chapter fourteen: House of Dance

Nina

Amber pulled me up stairs to the room we shared, insistent on doing my hair and make-up. While I wasn't sure what she was going to do to me, I had to agree. About an hour later, I was wearing some sort of green and black dress that was a little too low cut for my tastes, but Amber swore I looked fine. She had used dramatic eyeliner and false eyelashes on me, along with a pink-red lipstick.

When I looked in the mirror, I had to admit I looked good. Amber looked better, though. She was wearing a strapless blue dress with black stiletto heels. Her make-up was a little more dramatic than mine, some eye shadow added to make her blue eyes pop, but she still looked good.

Five minutes later, we were heading down the stairs to meet up with the guys. I was actually looking forward to the night out, but not because of the dancing. I wasn't the best dancer, after all, and neither was Fabian. Actually now that I thought about it, I realized that Fabian and I had never gone dancing. Ever.

He had obviously borrowed some of Eddie's clothes, since I knew he didn't own those jeans and that leather jacket. I also noticed Fabian had slightly spiked his hair, giving him a slightly bad-boy look. Wow, Fabian looked good.

"Nina?" he said in an unsure voice, like he didn't believe it was me.

"Well, I'm not Kate Beckett," I joked, walking down the last few stairs to stand with him. I noticed everyone else was there, all of them looking really good. Amber and Kelly helped clean up the Anubis gang pretty well.

Jerome called for four cabs to take us to the club in the nearby town. I piled into a cab with Fabian, wondering how Eddie managed to convince him to wear that outfit. He would've looked ridiculous if he hadn't looked so, well, hot.

When we got to the club, the bouncer actually asked for my ID, as if he couldn't see I was over twenty five. It was a little funny, as well as flattering. He actually thought I was under twenty one? I was still laughing about it as Fabian and I walked inside, arms linked. Fabian thought the guy was flirting with me, but I tried to convince him it was just a simple compliment.

Amber pulled Jerome onto the dance floor as soon as they stepped into the club, much to his dislike. Alfie and Kelly were dancing as well, and they looked like they were actually enjoying themselves. Mara had struck up a conversation with a random guy, who seemed to be really interested in what she was saying.

That just left Fabian and I. I wasn't really a dancer, and Fabian had the grace of a three legged turtle. We managed a slow sway while standing near the wall, but Amber wouldn't have it. She made Jerome dance over to us so she could voice her opinion.

"Dance you two," she demanded. "If you don't, I'll embarrass you at your wedding with the scrapbook I made."

I took her threat to heart and made Fabian follow me onto the dance floor. He was reluctant at first, but when I reminded him of what exactly was in that scrapbook, he had no choice. As best I could, I moved to the beat. Fabian followed my lead, doing his best to copy my movements.

After a few minutes, I actually realized I was having fun. I was dancing with my fiancé while at a reunion to my favorite place in the country. We moved together to the fast song, smiling at each other. Fabian laughed when we almost tripped over each other while trying to move around the dance floor. It was some of the most fun I'd had in a while.

Twenty minutes later, we had to take a break. I was getting really tired. We joined up with Kelly and Alfie, who were sitting at the bar. I struck up a conversation with Kelly, which Fabian and Alfie joined in eventually.

"So, Phoebe," she joked, "how's the Big Apple?"

"I'm so not Phoebe," I said humorously. "I'm Prue. You're Phoebe."

"I don't understand that reference," Alfie said, raising a hand.

Kelly and I looked at him, rolling our eyes. God, he was clueless. Kelly and I explained it to him as best we could, but I don't think he understood. Once that was out of the way, Fabian and I ordered something to drink. I'm not really sure what I got, but it tasted good.

When we were finished with our drinks, I pulled him back out onto the dance floor. I had been having fun, and I wasn't ready to call it quits just yet. Fabian unwillingly followed me, but by the end of the first song, he was having fun, too.

"So," he said after a while, "Are you worried about the next challenge?"

"Fabian," I whined. "I thought we weren't going to talk about the tunnels tonight."

"Sorry, but I had no idea what to talk about," he admitted.

"Then let's talk about something else. What about your outfit?"

Fabian laughed. "Eddie made me wear it. He said I had to look cooler than I normally did for tonight."

I laughed with him. "Well, even though it's not your normal style, I think it looks kind of hot."

A blush spread across his face, making me laugh harder. But it was my turn to blush when he spoke up.

"Well, though you normally dress completely different, I think that dress makes you look hotter than I could ever look," he told me, embarrassing me to no end.

And that's what started our embarrass-each-other war. By the end of the night, I had called Fabian almost every stupid nickname in the book in front of Jerome and Eddie, and he had actually kissed me in front of the entire Anubis gang.

On the way back to the house, I managed to convince him that I had won the battle, but the war would continue at a later date. We were both too tired to continue making fun of each other. Fabian pointed out that we were acting like Patricia and Eddie, but I really didn't care. It was fun to act different every so often.

When we got to Anubis House, Amber was waiting in the main hall to take a picture of us together. She made us pose like we were dancing, which I thought was a little stupid, but she was the photographer, so what she said, she got.

When everyone had their pictures done, Amber squealed about some sort of video, but since no one could understand her rambling, we just had to hope she wouldn't do anything stupid. After Amber had ran out of breath, I managed to escape to the other room with Fabian.

"Wow," I laughed, "Amber talks way too much."

"Yeah," Fabian agreed. "I thought we'd never get out."

We sat on the couch together, just sitting, not saying a word. I rested my head on Fabian's shoulder, wondering what we were going to do. We had to play Sennet tomorrow, but we both remembered what happened the last time we played against the Jackal figures. Eventually I fell asleep, my head still on his shoulder. I had no fear about what the next day would bring as I sank into the arms of sleep.

Fabian

I really didn't like dancing. I hadn't wanted to go to the club in the first place. It was made all the worse when Eddie made me wear this stupid outfit. I wasn't really comfortable wearing leather jackets and tight-ish jeans. But it was all worth it when I saw Nina walking down the stairs, wearing the dress Amber lent her.

Nina looked amazing in her outfit, almost making me forget how stupid I felt. When we were dancing, I had so much fun just watching her smile and laugh. It didn't matter that neither of us were good dancers, because we were just enjoying ourselves.

Now she was asleep, safe from all the horrors of the last few days. I let out a sigh as I laid back on the couch, making sure not to wake her. Nina had been through enough and she deserved to sleep. I let my eyes drift shut, following her example and falling asleep.

* * *

**Sorry the chapter was so short! Also, what DO guys wear when they go out? I wasn't sure, so I just made something up. If you weren't able to catch the references in the chapter, here they are:**

**1:** **Well, I'm not Kate Beckett –Castle**

**2:** **So, Phoebe, how's the Big Apple? –Charmed**

**3:** **I'm so not Phoebe. I'm Prue. You're Phoebe.** **–Charmed (again)**

**4: I don't understand that reference –Supernatural**

**If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then message me or review with your question/wanting an explanation and I'll explain. It just seems like too much to explain in an author's note. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for reading this far. I can't thank you enough for reading my story. When I first published Chapter One, I had no idea that people would actually read this, let alone leave such nice reviews. (If you think this means I would prefer a snarky review, I'll give you some advice: If it's just to be snarky, don't. Just don't. If you actually didn't like the chapter, suggest how I could make it better. DO NOT BE SNARKY JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE!) Okay, now that the sappy 'thank yous' and 'being snarkies' are out of the way, I'm just gonna let you read the next chapter, Chapter 15: House of Nightmares.**

* * *

Chapter 15: House of Nightmares

Eddie

Fabian didn't come to the room we shared that night, which I found a little funny. He must've been with Nina still. I flopped onto my bed, not bothering to change my clothes before I fell asleep.

_I knew I was having a nightmare when I saw the spirit. Senkarah was in front of me, her face an expression of scary amusement._

_"Osirian, look at what shall happen if you do not prevail," she commanded, pointing to a doorway._

_I was pushed inside by the dead queen, thrown into my worst nightmare. Every one of the Sibunas were on the floor, dead. I let out a sob as I saw Patricia lying in a pool of scarlet. Her wrists and throat were slashed, blood leaking around her. Not my Patricia!_

_Amber was lying across a bed, burns across her face, arms, everything. She looked like she had been laid in a fire, burned alive. Our fashion queen had been burned, killed slowly and painfully._

_Alfie was strung up with a rope around his neck, his face too awful to describe. He was dangling from the ceiling, the cord around his neck tighter than anyone would think possible. Oh god._

_Fabian had a bloody knife in his chest, red leaking from the wound. Someone had stabbed him in the heart, a symbolism if I ever saw one. Fabian, the kind, geeky, thinks-with-his-heart Fabian Rutter, had been stabbed in the heart._

_Then there was Nina. Senkarah had saved the worst death for her. It looked like someone had taken a machete to her. Blood pooled around her, more so than it had around Patricia. Nina was practically floating in it. I felt like I was going to puke._

_"No!" I yelled. "I'm not going to let you do this!"_

_Senkarah laughed evilly. "Then do as I command, Osirian. Bring me the Cup and the Mask, and your friends shall live. Fail me, and they shall die."_

I bolted up. Holy shit. Senkarah was really serious about this whole thing. She had already planned how she was going to _kill_ everyone. _Holy shit. Holy SHIT! _

I ran up the stairs and knocked on Patricia's door. I needed to know she was okay. To my disappointment, a sleepy Mara answered instead of my girlfriend.

"What do you want, Eddie?" she groaned.

"Can you get Patricia for me? It's important," I pleaded. Mara mumbled something and went back into the room. I was almost certain she had just fallen back asleep when the door opened again, this time revealing an exhausted Patricia.

"Eddie," she mumbled, leaning against the door frame with her eyes half closed. "What is it?"

Instead of answering her, I pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh thank god, you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

I pulled back, looking her in the eye. "Senkarah came into my dreams. She showed me . . . things. Bad things. Everyone was dead."

Patricia's eyes widened. "I'm fine, as you can tell. So, how's about we got to sleep, okay?"

"We can go to my room," I suggested. "Fabian's out, so you can take his bed."

Patricia agreed, and we walked together down the stairs to my room. I made Patricia swear she wouldn't leave me, not tonight. Sighing, she agreed, settling down on the bed across the room. I watched her fall asleep, following her lead only minutes later. My dreams were haunted by the images Senkarah showed me of my friends.

I was really starting to hate Senkarah.

When I woke up, something warm and heavy was laying on top of me. What the hell? I shot up, making whatever was on me fall away. A sound of surprise came from it, and I finally realized what it was.

Patricia was laying in front of me, a dazed look on her face. I would've laughed if my heart wasn't pounding a million times a minute.

"Patricia?"

"What the hell was that for?!" she grumbled, sitting up.

"How did you get over here? Why are you over here?"

"You were having a nightmare," she told me, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. I did the same, turning my head to look at her.

"So why'd you sleep on me?" I smirked at her. "Did you find me too hot to leave be?"

"Shut up, Eddie," Patricia said, giving me a playful shove. "The only reason I came over here was because you were muttering in your sleep. I couldn't just leave you like that. Despite how I act, I actually do care about you."

"Aw, I'm touched that you care. Now can we go get breakfast? I'm hungry."

"Leave it to you to ruin a nice coupley moment by complaining that you're hungry," Patricia laughed, standing up with me.

Nina

I bolted up. Holy hell, that had been a really bad dream. I replayed the images through my mind, trying to make sense of them all. As I did, I felt sick to my stomach.

_I knew I was having a nightmare when I saw the dead queen. Senkarah was in front of me, her face an expression of terrifying amusement._

_"Chosen One, look at what shall happen if you do not prevail," she commanded, pointing into a doorway._

_I was pushed inside by the dead ruler, thrown into my worst nightmare. Every one of the Sibunas were on the floor, dead. I saw Patricia lying in a pool of scarlet. Her wrists and throat were slashed, blood pooling around her._

_Amber was lying across a bed, burns marring her face, arms, everything. She looked like she had been laid in a fire and burned alive. My best friend had been burned, tortured as she died._

_Alfie was strung up with a cord around his neck, his face too appalling to describe. He was hanging from the ceiling, the rope around his neck tighter than anyone would have thought possible. Oh god, no._

_I let out a sob as I saw Fabian. He had a large knife plunged into his heart, blood slowly trickling from the wound. My heart broke into a thousand sharp, heavy pieces. No! Not my Fabian._

_Then there was Eddie. Senkarah had saved the worst death for him. It looked like someone had taken a sword to him. Cuts, some down to the bone, were scattered all over his body. I felt like I was going to be sick._

_"NO!" I shouted at the spirit. "I won't let you do this!"_

_Senkarah laughed evilly. "Then do as I command, Chosen One. Bring me the Cup and the Mask, and your friends shall live. Fail me, and they shall die."_

"I won't let her do that," I whispered to myself.

"Let who do what?" a sleepy voice asked, making me jump. Whoever it was laughed at my reaction, making me look over to see who it was. Oh. Fabian was laying next to me on the couch, having just woken up himself.

"Um, no one," I lied. I was still a really horrible liar.

"Did Senkarah enter your dream?" he asked me as he sat up. I nodded. "What happened?"

I shook my head. No, I couldn't tell him. Fabian gently wrapped his arms around me, comforting me enough to tell him what happened.

"She killed everyone," I said softly. "Every one of the Sibunas were dead. The worst was seeing you with a knife i-in your h-h-heart." Tears had started falling down my face as I relayed how I had seen him dead.

"Shh," Fabian said kindly. "I'm not dead. I'm alive. See? We'll be fine. Nina, we will all be fine. No one is going to hurt any of us."

I wiped my tears away, nodding at his words. But did I believe them? Senkarah was ruthless and evil, and I knew that nothing would stand in her way. She wanted the Cup and the Mask, and we had only a few days to get them to her.

This was one enormous, daunting, unstoppable nightmare.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey! So, I apologize for not warning you earlier, but this is another filler, though it does have something to do with what happened earlier in the story. I'll give you a hint: the titles are **_**The Cup of Life**_** and **_**The Man in Time.**_** Hope you enjoy Chapter 16: House of Stories.**

* * *

Chapter sixteen: House of Stories

Patricia

I sat in the common room later that morning, working on a sketch. I was redrawing the cover for _The Cup of Life_ because I had no idea what else to do. I was too far away from my studio to work on anything else but a pencil drawing.

While I was working, thoughts drifted through my mind, as soft as the whisper of a paint brush against paper and as loud as the colors of a parrot's feathers. These things fought for the dominate space in my mind until I found a topic to concentrate on.

What was Senkarah's game? What was she doing? She had demanded that Eddie and Nina find the Mask and the Cup by the end of the week so she could take them? No way was I going to let them do that! I couldn't let Nina or, god forbid, Eddie put on the Mask and let Senkarah use them as her ticket to becoming a goddess. She deserved to be put down, not lifted higher.

I didn't notice Nina come in until she was standing right behind me, peering over my shoulder to see what I was working on. I ignored her, knowing that if she was going to say something, she would. Instead of saying anything, she walked out, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Nina

I wandered around the house and found myself in Fabian's room. I laughed as I remembered some of the Sibuna meetings we had had in here. But those meetings didn't matter anymore, because Sibuna was only alive again for less than a week, by which time we would either have finished the challenges or we would all be dead. Wow, it really was like high school all over again.

As I was about to leave, I saw something on the bookshelf on Eddie's side of the room. It was a book, nothing special, but the title caught my attention._ The Cup of Life, _book one in _The Protectors Series_.

I picked it up and looked at the cover. It was beautiful, but I recognized the picture. I had seen Patricia working on a sketch similar to it earlier, but this was amazingly done.

The picture was a painting of the Cup of Ankh and the Eye of Horus locket, done in red and gold. The locket seemed to fade into the Cup, and the title, _The Cup of Life_, was written across the top in fine gold filigree. I opened the front cover and read the information about the book, hoping I was wrong.

I wasn't.

_At a boarding school in England, the myths of a different country are hard at work. Egyptian myths are becoming very real as one of the students goes missing. When an American student comes to stay, everyone thinks she has something to do with the girl's disappearance. When she meets the daughter of the famous Egyptologist that helped build the school, she realizes she's not a normal girl. _

_Natalie Morgan is the Paragon, the Chosen One of Anubis, and she has been chosen to find and put together the Cup of Life and keep it safe from the society that would use it to obtain immortality. She knows she can't do it alone, but she doesn't want to put her fellow housemates in danger. When a select few find out about the quest, they form a group known as the Protectors, who will find and protect the Cup. _

_Will the Protectors find the Cup and keep it safe, or will they let the Cup fall into the society's grasp and lose a life to the balance? _

I snarled under my breath. Someone knew about the Cup and wrote a book about it! Who was it? I slammed the book shut, finally looking at the author's name. The name on the book actually surprised me. It couldn't be. But it was.

Eddison Miller.

I gripped the book tight in my hand and rushed out of the room, determined to get the truth from the writer and tell Fabian about it. I found Fabian first, by the edge of the woods. When he saw me, he smiled. I would've smiled back if I hadn't been so mad at my Osirian.

I shoved the book into his hands. When he read the author's name, Fabian swore. I was taken aback. Fabian never swore, not even when he found the scorpion in his bag when we spent a week in Egypt. He looked up at me, shock and anger written in his gaze.

"Why would Eddie write about our lives?"Fabian asked, gripping the book so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"I don't know. I don't care that he wrote about it, though. The only thing I care about is why he didn't ask us!"

"Well, you could just ask me," Eddie's voice rang out across the small clearing in front of the forest.

I whirled around. "Were you going to tell us you were writing about us?" I asked, taking the book from Fabian and handing it to the author.

"Yeah, I was actually. Why do you think I brought a copy? I don't read the books, I just write them. I wanted to know if you were okay with how I wrote the books. I'm sorry I didn't ask, but I figured since I was one of the Sibunas and I changed the names, it would be okay."

"Oh." For once, I was speechless. I looked at Eddie again, really seeing him. He was worried about how we would react to the book, and he wanted to know what we thought of it. I said my apologies, as did Fabian. I felt really bad about how I reacted. Once we made up, Eddie told me I could keep the book. I thanked him and opened it to the first page, walking back to the house.

* * *

Two hours later, I was almost done with the book. I didn't care that everything in the book was true; Eddie was an amazing author! I felt just as I had when I went through the search the first time, the fear and the suspense. Even though I knew how the book ended, I couldn't wait to see what happened.

_Natalie pressed the pieces of the Cup together, an almost blinding light surrounding her. What would happen if this didn't work? Would the society win? Would Jenna ever come back? What would happen to the rest of the Protectors?_

_The pieces of the Cup radiated a light brighter than anything anyone had ever seen before. Once the light faded, the Protectors let out a shout of joy. The Cup of Life was complete!_

I read the rest of the book in about twenty minutes, remembering the way I had felt through the challenge of trying to destroy the Cup. While I read the last few pages, I smiled at the memory of the prom.

_Natalie looked at Angel, her cheeks red. Did Angel have to make her prom queen? Angel looked at Falin and her and mouthed 'dance you two.' They awkwardly stood and Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck. The two swayed slowly to the music._

"_Well, that was embarrassing," she laughed nervously._

"_Yeah . . . Very," Falin added, laughing too. They danced for a few more seconds before Falin continued. "Natalie, you look –"_

"_I look ridiculous," she said, sweeping her hair over her shoulder._

"_I was going to say beautiful."_

_Natalie looked into Falin's eyes._

"_So are you going to tell me what happened?" Falin continued, unaware of Natalie's amazement._

"_Did you just call me beautiful?" Natalie asked, smiling. The couple continued to dance on the stage, oblivious to the audience watching them._

_Falin blushed a little at her words. "Yeah."_

_She smiled at the confirmation of his words. Falin had called her beautiful. The two teenagers danced for a few more seconds, until Falin spoke up._

"_So why did you go back down to the cellar?"_

_Natalie shook her head slightly, still smiling. "All that can wait. This can't."_

_Then Natalie leaned forward and kissed Falin tenderly, both of them overjoyed and embarrassed as the crowd started to cheer. They broke apart, smiling at each other. Natalie and Falin walked off of the stage and joined the dancing crowd, still together._

_As they were dancing with the rest of the students, no one noticed the glow coming from the Cup of Life under the floorboards._

I closed the book with a small thud, smiling at what I had just read. Eddie was an amazing author! He really captured the night I had first kissed Fabian, the night I finally made everything right that term. I forgave Eddie completely for writing the book without the permission of Sibuna. If I had known, I probably would have stopped him, which would have been a crime against literature.

I ran to find Eddie, who was now sitting in the common room with Patricia. He looked up at me, suspicion on his glance. Patricia looked up, too, but her gaze was one of confusion, but then shock as she noticed the book in my hands.

"This is an amazing book!" I told him. "You are a great author. Have you written anymore?"

Eddie laughed. "Yeah, I have three books published about the experiences in Anubis House. The next one is _The Mask of Gold_ and the third _The Man in Time_. I think you can figure out what they're about."

"Well, if you want to use any more Anubis House or Sibuna things, go ahead. It would be a crime not to let these books get published," I told him. "Can I read the next one?"

Eddie laughed, as did Patricia. "If I had known you would like the books so much, I would've said something earlier."

A thought crossed my mind, which I decided to voice. "How did you know so much about the Cup? You weren't here."

Patricia laughed. "I told him," she explained. "I thought writing was a good thing for him to do, especially since his other talents would've gotten him arrested."

"Other talents?" I repeated. "What other talents?"

"Oh, just sneaking, mystery solving, breaking-and-entering," Eddie laughed. "You know, normal Sibuna skills."

I laughed with him, knowing how he felt. I was a journalist now, but I still knew how to pick a lock. I hadn't had to pick one in a while, though. The last time I had needed to was when I had accidentally locked my keys inside the house. Thankfully we hadn't gotten the updated alarm system by then, or I would've had the police on my tail.

Eddie promised he would send me a copy of the other two books as soon as the reunion was over, which I was grateful for. I would finally find out exactly what happened when Ammut had been released, which for some reason people were reluctant to tell me about.

I walked away, wanting to tell Fabian about the book. I found him as he was walking into the house, just as he was stepping through the front door.

"So how was the book?" he asked, a smile lighting up his face.

"It captured our personalities perfectly," I said truthfully. "But your character was named Falin Richards."

"Falin?" Fabian sputtered. "Falin?! What was your character?"

I smiled. "Natalie Morgan. Amber was Angel Mika, Alfie was Adam Levy, Jerome was Jared Clovis, Patricia was Paige Whitlock, Mara was Melanie Jacobs, Mick was Mathew Cassia, and Joy was Jasmine Monroe. Eddie was pretty creative with the names, don't you think?"

Fabian smiled. "Yeah, he was. Still, Falin?"

I laughed as Fabian went to go find Eddie, probably to confront him about the name. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

**So, I happened to make a slight mistake in the first writing of this. I added Eddie as a character in the book he wrote, based on season 1. If you're curious at all, his character's name was going to be Edward Maslin (see, this way he could keep the nickname Eddie). Also, I used one of my friend's names in the character's names! Can you guess what her name is? Heehee! Oh, I might not be able to update until Thursday, so don't be shocked if there's not a new chapter tomorrow. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	17. Chapter 17

**I am bored and have no idea what to put in this author's note. Thank you, and enjoy Chapter seventeen: House of Games.**

* * *

Chapter seventeen: House of Games

Eddie

"Nina, one square forward, Patricia, one to the left, Amber, one to your right, and Eddie, one forward," Fabian said from the chair at the back of the board.

We were playing sennet, and oddly enough Fabian was having me as one of the "game pieces." I thought he would've wanted someone else, considering he was a little ticked at me for the name in the book. In all fairness I thought Falin was a perfectly good name for his character. Then again, maybe making me one of the pieces was like a punishment.

I thought about the recording that Frobisher had made for the sennet game. Why did it have to be so threatening? As I thought back to what it had said only minutes before, a chill ran down my spine.

_The Golden prize will tempt the fool. The wise should heed this golden rule. This game of Sennet you cannot win. Only the reckless will even begin. One wrong move will seal your fate. An end too dark to contemplate._

What was with Frobisher and these riddles? It was like he wanted to confuse us enough for us to forget that we were looking for the Mask. Shaking the thought from my mind, I did as Fabian said, taking a step forward. The statues spun around, thankfully missing everyone.

We played the game for about an hour longer, getting almost halfway across the board. I glanced at my watch. Holy crap, it was three o'clock in the afternoon. When we had gotten down here it had been around twelve-thirty. We'd been playing Sennet for over two hours!

Fabian made Nina take a step forward and another step left, leaving me to stay put. The statues spun around, making Nina and I nervous. We were the only ones standing on the danger squares. They stopped moving, landing on neither of us. Phew.

I looked back at Fabian and smirked at him. "Hey, Falin, good job playing Sennet."

"Don't call me Falin," Fabian said in a low voice. "It's a stupid name."

"Are you calling my writing stupid?"

"No, I'm calling your choice in names stupid," Fabian argued. "Now, take two steps forward, Patricia, one to your left, and Amber, one to your right. I know it's a danger square for a few of you, and I'm sorry, but we need to get through this game."

We all did as told, Nina and I on the danger squares. I locked eyes with the brunette, wondering if we were going to face "an end to dark to contemplate." The statues spun around and around, the sound of stone against stone echoing through the chamber.

I paled as the statue in front of Nina stopped, the blade it was holding facing her. What was going to happen? Nina screamed as the space she was standing on opened up, making her fall into the dark abyss.

"NINA!" I yelled, my cry echoed by the rest of the Sibunas.

"Not again," Fabian whispered, guilt and tears in his voice. "Not again."

Before I could ask what he meant, another recording played through the chamber. "My warnings ignored now come the costs. Continue the task and all will be lost. But if fallen friends you wish to reclaim, you have no choice but to finish the game."

"Fabian, you know what we have to do," Amber said slowly. "We have to finish the game. She'll be fine. And besides, you made sure we packed, remember?"

Now it all made sense. Fabian had made us all bring a small bag filled with snacks before we came down here to play. I guess if we were going to be trapped, we were going to need something to eat and drink. But was there a bathroom down there? I really didn't want to know.

Alfie, the only one of us who wasn't playing at all, walked up to Fabian and offered to take his spot as the director of the game, but we all disagreed with his idea. We didn't want Alfie to be the one who decided our fate. It was nothing personal; it was just that he had a hard time winning at checkers, let alone an ancient Egyptian board game.

Fabian took a second to compose himself, during which I looked over at Patricia. She wore her standard 'I don't care' look, but I could tell that she was really shaken up.

"It'll be okay, Yacker," I said in a comforting tone. "You'll see."

"I know," she replied. "But I can still be worried about a friend, right Slimeball?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay," Fabian said, interrupting our conversation. "Eddie, one square to your right, Patricia, one to your left and one forward, and Amber, one forward. Let's get Nina back."

We followed his instructions exactly, resulting in none of us falling. We were only a few squares from the other end of the board! We moved two places closer, leaving only three between us and the Mask, when another recorded voice sounded through the room. I could tell by the confused looks on everyone's faces that this hadn't happened before.

"You have almost won at a timely pace, but now a choice shall seal your fate. Choose now to leave and none shall be lost, but continue and the fallen shall pay the cost. You have but a minute to decide their fate, leave now and come back when the clock strikes eight."

What does that mean? Do we have to leave? We all turned to Fabian, who was frantically looking at the notepad he had been writing down our moves on.

"Alright, we need to leave. Now," he said. "Um, do as I say and we'll be fine, okay?"

He instructed us on how to move off of the board. Just as my watch signaled that one minute had passed from when the voice sounded, I stepped off. A tremor ran through the room, shaking the very foundations of the stone. We ran back through the tunnels, only stopping when we got to the study.

"What was that all about?" Patricia demanded when we stopped running.

"Didn't you hear that?" Fabian replied in a snippy tone. "'Choose now to leave and none shall be lost, but continue and the fallen shall pay the cost.' If we continued playing right then, then Nina would've been lost or had to pay the cost or whatever Frobisher wanted to do. He made it to where if we were winning on our first try, we'd have to give up until sunset."

"I hate Frobisher!" Amber yelled, the venom in her voice shocking us all. "Why can't he just let us finish the game and get Nina back?"

"Because he wanted the game to be a challenge," I said, realizing the truth. "He didn't want us to win right off the bat. We have to earn it first by proving we want it bad enough."

"So now what do we do?" Patricia asked. "Just go upstairs and act like nothing happened?"

"That's exactly what we do," Fabian said. "If we get asked where Nina is, then we say she went for a walk or something. We'll meet back here at seven fifty-five, okay?"

We agreed and walked back up to the house, our minds occupied with what happened in the Mask chamber.

Kelly

The six amigos, as I liked to call them, all came out of the cellar door together, slightly depressed looks on their faces. What was wrong with them? Then I noticed something: there were only five of them. Where was Nina? I walked over to them, slinging my arm over Alfie's shoulder as the others walked away.

"Hey, Alfie," I said. "Why the long face? Did you see a rat?"

"No, Kelly," he replied, trying to sound more upbeat. "I just lost a game against Fabian, and I can't understand how."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Fabian seems like he could beat anyone at a game, unless it was a sport," I joked.

"I heard that," Fabian said from the other room.

"You were supposed to," I called back, turning back to Alfie. "Seriously, though. What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just a stupid game, that's all." Alfie walked with me to the kitchen and started making a huge snack. When I saw what he was pulling out of the refrigerator, I knew something was up. Alfie only made a snack of peanut butter-coated apples and string cheese (nasty, I know) when he was upset.

"Alfie, something's wrong, and it's more than just a game," I said in a low voice. "You know you can tell me."

"Nina's hurt," he blurted out. "Fabian just got a call from the hospital, but they told him he can't go over and see her just yet. We're all really worried."

"Oh no," I sympathized. I didn't know Nina all that well, but she seemed like a nice enough person. "How'd she get hurt?"

"I have no idea. The doctors aren't telling us anything."

"Well, let's go and sit with Fabian," I suggested. "He'll be the most worried." Ignoring Alfie's protests, I dragged him into the common room where the rest of the old residents were waiting. I saw Fabian sitting beside Amber on the couch, so I sat on the other side of him, making Alfie sit on the arm of the couch.

"Fabian, I'm so sorry to hear about Nina," I said, trying to console him. "Is she alright?"

"You told her?" Fabian growled at Alfie.

"More like she dragged it out of me," Alfie grumbled.

"Fabian, you should tell us if someone ends up in the hospital, I reprimanded him. "It's not like we don't care about Nina. I may not have known her very long, but she's still a friend. When did you get the call from the doctors?"

"Um, about a half hour ago," Fabian said uncertainly. I draped an arm around his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your fiancé," I told him. Then I noticed Eddie and added "And I'm sorry to hear about your sister."

For some reason, everyone started to laugh. I looked at Alfie, confused. Why were they laughing when all I said was I hoped his sister felt alright? Mara eventually took pity on me and explained the situation.

"Eddie and Nina aren't actually brother and sister," she explained. "They just treat each other like it. And Fabian, why didn't you tell us Nina was in the hospital? Can we go visit her?"

"No," I said. "The doctors aren't letting anyone visit just yet."

"Oh, well we can all go see her when she feels better," Mara said, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes.

For the rest of the afternoon, we all sat in the common room and hung out. At one point Amber got her camera and started taking pictures of us, which I found a little funny, but everyone could still tell Fabian was worried about Nina.

Nina

My head hurt. That was the first thing my mind registered as I woke up. It felt like I had been hit with a cinderblock. My eyes slowly opened, my vision a little blurry until I blinked a few times, clearing the sleep out of my eyes. Not again.

I was back in the underground pit that I had been trapped in the last time we had gone through the sennet game. Just freakin great. I wondered briefly if Mr. Rodenmaar was still haunting down here, but cast the thought out after a second. There was no reason for him to hang out anymore.

I stood, stretching and walking around. Crap, I had forgotten how bad it was being stuck in here. Out of curiosity I checked my watch, which Fabian had made me wear (bless him) and it read 5:47. Seriously, I had been in there for almost three hours? Why hadn't they played the game yet?

"They have not played the game because they value your life, child," a familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw Mr. Rodenmaar, a wavering spirit, standing before me.

"You're still here?" I asked the ghost of Victor's father.

"Yes, child, and it appears you are back. I am not surprised to see that you have returned."

"What did you mean earlier when you said they haven't played because they value my life?"

"I heard the warning that Frobisher made," he intoned. "It warned them that if they continued playing at that moment, then you would suffer the cost."

"So in order to save me, they had to leave me?" I asked in a soft voice. "Why?"

"So no one would get the Mask on their first try. Frobisher was keen on making sure you only got the Mask if you truly wanted it."

"But how do I get out if they can't play the game?"

"Who said they could not? They shall return at eight o'clock tonight to complete the last few steps for saving you. Goodbye, child." The ghost faded from view, taking away my only company.

Wait a minute. I still had my cell phone. It was a long shot, but maybe I had signal down here. Hurriedly, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through the contacts until I found Fabian's number. I crossed my fingers as I heard the familiar ringing.

"Hello?" his voice sounded as though it was coming through a well, but I could hear him.

"Fabian, thank god I reached you!" I said happily.

"Nina?"

I was about to reply when I heard a familiar voice over the line say "Oh, she's calling from the hospital? Tell her I said hello!"

"Kelly says hello," Fabian said. I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Listen, I know you can't play the game until tonight, but don't rescue me until tomorrow morning, okay? That is if you finish the game tonight. I'm still trying to talk to Victor's father, who seems to still be here, and I'm hoping he can help us figure out how to trap Senkarah for good."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then," Fabian said. "I love you."

"Love you too," I chirped, hitting the END button on my phone. Now all I could do was wait.

Fabian

"Finally," Patricia said as Eddie and I crept down into the Mask chamber. "I thought you'd gotten lost!"

"As if, Yacker," Eddie said. "Jerome was in the kitchen, so we couldn't leave until he was gone."

"Hate to break up this moment," Amber stated, "but we have to be on that board in two minutes, so can we hurry on with it?"

"Right," I said, getting out my notepad. "Um, let's see." I looked at all the directions I had made my friends walk and instructed them on how to get back. Exactly two minutes later, everyone was back on the board, ready to play. A prerecorded voice sounded across the room, a voice I was really starting to hate.

"Chosen now to play again, one wrong move shall spell the end. Make one false move and the game is done, your friends below shall never see the sun."

"Okay," I said after the voice had finished. "We can't make any mistakes. If we do, we lose Nina forever. Let's play."

Five minutes later, everyone was on edge.

"Fabian! Tell Alfie to quit poking me!" Amber squealed.

"How can I be poking you?" Alfie demanded. "I'm all the way over here!"

"Just stop it!"

"Everyone shut UP!" I yelled. "I can't concentrate!"

That got everyone's attention, along with their silence. We played the game for a few minutes more, Eddie ending up one square away from the one on the edge. The statues spun around, faster than they had before, and came to a stop.

None of them were pointing at my friends.

"Eddie, take one step forward," I said with a smile on my face. "Everyone else, stay where you are."

Eddie crossed to the edge of the board, stepping off the patterned squares. We did it! We won the game! A loud cheer erupted from the Sibunas, all of us rushing over to Eddie and gathering in a group hug. Even though we were all glad the game had been finished, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. Nina was still under the school, and she wouldn't let us get her until tomorrow.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Eddie asked, turning to the pedestal that had risen from the ground and taking the key to the Mask. "Let's get this thing and then get Nina!"

"Put it back right now!" I demanded, swiping the gold key from his grasp and placing it back. "We can't use that key if we want to get Nina out. We can only use one of the keys!"

I reached down and took the silver key, the one that would unlock Nina's prison, and slipped it into my pocket. "First thing in the morning, we'll come down here and get Nina out, okay?"

Everyone agreed with me, having been told what Nina told me over the phone earlier that day. We walked out of the tunnel and back up to the rest of the house. No one was in the common room, probably in their own rooms, so we were free to talk about what we were going to do in peace.

"So how do we get the Mask if we can only use one key?" Eddie asked.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "Maybe Nina has a plan."

Victor chose that moment to walk into the common room.

"What's this about a key and a mask?" he asked in his booming voice.

"Think about the last time we were here, Victor," Alfie said with a mischievous grin. "It'll come to you."

Victor thought about it for a second, and we could tell when he realized what Alfie was taking about when he got a strange look in his eye.

"Why are you talking about that? That was nothing but nonsense!"

"Well, this is a reunion, Victor," Eddie said with a smirk. "We're supposed to talk about things that happened in school."

"Just leave it be," Victor growled, storming out of the room.

We decided pretty quickly after that to go to bed, seeing as it was almost ten o'clock. As I fell asleep, one thought stayed in my mind.

_I hope Nina is okay._

Nina

I tried to use an old crate as a bed that night. Not the ideal place to sleep, but it was all I had. A century's worth of dust coated the room, making it almost impossible not to sneeze every time I moved something. Ugh, this was not my day. Eventually I managed to fall asleep, only to be awoken two hours later by the creaking of an old door.

A light shone in my face, blinding me for a moment. I heard a voice shout something, and with a shock I realized that my friends were here, getting me out. I jumped up and ran to Fabian, burying my head in his shoulder.

"Nina," he crooned, as if I was a child who he was calming down. "You're okay."

"Thanks to you," I said, pulling back but still holding onto him.

"Hey, we helped too," Eddie cut in, making the hug a group hug as everyone embraced me. "Fabian was only the director. We were the chorus."

I looked over at him. "Please tell me you didn't just make a choir joke."

"Would it make you feel better if I did?"

I thought about it. "No, I guess not."

As we started to walk out of the tunnel, I realized I needed to hurry. I rushed ahead of the rest of them, running through the tunnel to get back to the house.

"Wait! Why are you running?" Fabian asked, making the rest of the Sibunas run along with me.

I rolled my eyes. "I was trapped in there for almost twenty-four hours after just gotten through drinking two bottles of water. Why do you think I'm running?"

Fabian gave an embarrassed laugh as he slowed down. "Oh."

* * *

Ten minutes later, having everything taken care of and having changed my clothes, I walked into the common room and sat down on the couch beside Kelly, who was currently absorbed in a magazine.

"Hey, Nina," she said distractedly. Then she realized what she said. "NINA! You're back! Are you okay? What happened?"

Everyone seemed to hear what she said, and all of the Sibunas but Fabian played along.

"Nina's back?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why were you in the hospital?"

"What happened?"

"What did the doctors say?"

"How'd you get hurt?"

My head was a little dizzy from all the questions. I held up my hand to stop them, and was actually surprised when it worked.

"I'm fine, really. I just managed to trip outside and hit my head on something. I got knocked out, and when I came to, I was in the hospital. They didn't let me check out until this morning," I said, relaying the lie I had come up with last night after I heard Kelly say something about a hospital.

"As long as you're okay," Mara said. "We were worried about you."

I smiled. "I'm fine."

About an hour passed before I could get Sibuna alone. We met in Fabian's room, where they explained the final problem to me. The Mask was behind a glass cover and the key was gone for good. A sly smile crossed my face as I came up with an idea.

"Where are you going?" Patricia asked as I darted out of the room. I ignored her and made sure Victor was gone before breaking into his office to get the thing I was after. Once it was safely hid in my bag, I made my way down to the Mask chamber, the rest of Sibuna following me.

"Nina, what are you doing?" Eddie demanded as we stopped right in front of the Mask. I pulled the thing I had stolen from Victor's office out of my bag and smirked at everyone.

"Stand back," I warned. Everyone literally ran away as I swung the hammer at the glass, feeling the vibrations on impact.

CRASH!

The glass shattered into a million shards, coating the floor in a dangerous glitter. I smiled at my handiwork, proud that I hadn't damaged the Mask in any way. I reached in carefully and pulled the Mask out, gripping it with both hands.

Now all we had to do was get the Cup and we'd be done with Senkarah forever.

* * *

**Okay, listen up readers! I have a poll on my profile. If you've forgotten or haven't read any previous author's notes, then you'll want to pay attention to this. Should Nina's wedding dress be simple or extravagant? Vote now! I have only two people who've voted, and they chosen different choices! If you do not vote and it ends up a tie by chapter 20, then you shall not be able to read the last chapter! Mwahahaha! Thanks for reading and remember to vote!**

**~C**


	18. Chapter 18

**OMA, I forgot to update yesterday! How did I forget that? Sorry! But please, enjoy Chapter eighteen: House of Sleep.**

* * *

Chapter eighteen: House of Sleep

Patricia

Now that we had Nina back, all we had to do was get the Cup and give it to Senkarah. Then she would leave us alone forever. Nina sent me down to the tunnel to get the Cup, which I was more than happy to do. She had been through hell in the last few days, so this was no problem.

When I went into the tunnel, I walked straight to the reflector room and opened the way to the Library with the amulet. When the panel opened, I looked inside, trying to see the gold of the Cup. I didn't see it at all.

No! Where was the Cup? We didn't have enough time to find the pieces if they were back where they had been when we found them the first time. I rushed out of the tunnel and hurried up to Fabian's room, where I knew half of the Sibunas were. Amber had dragged Nina out to take pictures just before I went after the Cup.

"The Cup wasn't there!" I said worriedly.

"Then it must be in the attic," Fabian said in a calming voice. "We knew there was a possibility it wouldn't be in there."

"Well, let's go get it from the attic," I said, tugging on their arms.

"We can't," Fabian said, pulling his arm from my grasp. "We need Nina's locket to open the panel in the wall."

"Then let's get her locket! Eddie can use it."

We went outside into the yard, where Amber was having Nina pose. I rolled my eyes as Amber tried to get Nina to pose exactly right and Nina got fed up and posed how she wanted to. When we got over there, I asked Nina for her locket.

"Why do you – Oh. The Cup is in the attic, isn't it?" Without another word, she tugged the locket from around her neck and handed it to Eddie.

We thanked her and dashed back inside. I followed Eddie and Fabian to the attic, where Fabian pointed out a small place on the wall shaped like the locket. Eddie placed the locket into the indent and we watched in amazement as the wall slid back to reveal the Cup of Ankh.

I grabbed it from the compartment and let the wall slid back into place. We went back down stairs and into Nina and Amber's room, where I locked the Cup in her wardrobe with the Mask.

"Sibuna two, all others zero," Amber said from behind us, a happy smile on her face. "So when do we give Senkarah this stuff?"

"I'll do it tonight," Nina offered, walking in behind Amber. "She hasn't marked anyone beside Eddie and I, and I know how to deal with her."

"Correction," Eddie smirked "I know how to deal with her. Last time you got possessed and I had to save you, remember? And not only that, but she's ticked at you more so than me because she thought she had you under her control. I was completely free of blame."

"Yeah right," Nina said. "You're the one who sent her to the Afterlife in the first place, remember? I'll give her the Mask and the Cup and you guys will stay far away. Besides, I already told her I would."

"You what?!" I yelled, startling everyone. "When did you see her?"

"Last night," Nina told us. "She came to me at about five in the morning, just before I fell asleep. I was given a choice: give her the Cup and Mask alone or she would Mark you guys. I couldn't let her do that."

I understood immediately. Nina didn't want to get us hurt. I also understood that it was part wanting to keep all of us safe and part really wanting to keep Fabian safe. I would've done the same thing in her place, but that didn't mean I liked her choice.

Fabian

I knew why Nina had offered to go alone, but I didn't like it. She shouldn't have to risk herself to keep us safe. I hated that I couldn't fight the spirit and keep Nina out of harm's way. I hated that I couldn't protect her.

When I heard Nina say she had been visited at five a.m., just before she fell asleep, it made me wonder how much she had slept. If she had gone to sleep after five and we came to get her at seven . . . Nina had only slept for two hours since eight a.m. yesterday. It was a wonder she was still on her feet. It was then that I noticed her swaying unsteadily.

"Nina, how much did you sleep?" I asked.

Nina tilted her head in thought. "Um, about an hour and a half, I think. Maybe two hours."

"What?" Eddie said worriedly. "Okay, does anyone have any Nyquil or Melatonin?"

"Why do we need that?" Amber asked, looking up from her nails. I hadn't noticed it before, but while we were talking, she had started to paint her nails.

"Nina's only slept two hours since yesterday," I explained. "She needs to sleep."

Nin grumbled under her breath about not wanting to sleep, but together Patricia, Eddie, Amber, and I managed to force her to lie down on her bed. She was still grumbling, but this time it was about being watched, so I made all the other Sibunas leave the room. Only Nina and I were left in the room.

Nina

I hadn't wanted to admit that I hadn't slept much, but I accidently let it slip that I hadn't fallen asleep until five. Fabian made me lie down on the bed, but I didn't want everyone to stare at me while I was falling asleep. I guess I had said that out loud because Fabian made everyone get out of the room, leaving just me and him in the bedroom.

I sighed as I snuggled under the covers, gripping the pillow tight enough to choke the life out of a person. Fabian chuckled, seeing me attack the pillow.

"Nina, it's not going to escape," he said, a small laugh coming from him.

"Don't care," I mumbled, closing my eyes. "It'll stay."

"Is that what you're worried about? That no one will stay?"

I nodded, too tired to reply. It was nearly one thirty, so I was understandably exhausted. Fabian sighed, coming over to sit on the edge of my bed.

"I'm staying. I won't leave, not ever," he promised.

I let out a content sigh, but for some reason I didn't believe him. Everyone was in danger, and Senkarah might take him away from me. So, acting how I would never act if I had been wide awake, I tugged on his arm until Fabian was lying right beside me, curled up on top of the blankets.

He laughed again, but stayed where I had put him all the same. I smiled as I was falling asleep. He was actually staying. He wasn't leaving me. I knew it sounded clingy, but I was afraid of being left. Too many people had left me over the years. Mom and Dad died in a car crash, Gran died a few years ago in her sleep, this was the first time I had seen my friends from Anubis House in years, and all of my bridesmaids had decided they didn't want to be a part of my wedding.

As I fell asleep, I realized that Fabian was the only one who had stayed with me through everything. He had stayed with me even though I had too many flaws and wasn't the best person in the world. For some reason, he decided I was worth staying for.

And that made all the difference.

* * *

**Cute Fabina fluff! But now I'm tired. *yawn* Anywho, have you voted yet? Remember, vote or there's no last chapter! And in said chapter, there's come cute fluff, some embarrassing stuff, and another vision for Eddie . . . Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	19. Chapter 19

**So, this story only has two chapters after this. I know, sad right? But do not be discouraged, my dear readers, because I shall be posting a new story! It's called Mentally Unstable and it's mostly AU –I think, anyway –but I think you'll like it. If you go onto my profile and read ODDEST CONVERSATION YOU WILL EVER READ then you'll meet one of the characters and get a hint of the plot. Until then, enjoy Chapter nineteen: House of Ghost!**

Chapter nineteen: House of Ghost

Nina

When I woke up from my nap, the first thing I did was look over at the clock. It was around eight o'clock at night. I was supposed to be at the Frobisher Library in about an hour if I wanted my friends to stay alive. I slowly got up, snickering when I saw Fabian snoring lightly beside me, his eyes closed in peaceful sleep.

Now that I knew when I had to leave, I got up and took some clothes to the bathroom to change. After I came out, I snuck back into the bedroom and unlocked my wardrobe. I sighed quietly when I saw the Mask and the Cup were still in there. I gently pulled them out of there and placed them in my large bag. Now I was ready to go.

I walked silently through the house, intending on sneaking through the tunnel to the Library, but I was stopped by Mara and Trudy while I was walking through the common room.

"Good morning, dear," Trudy joked, seeing me. "I heard you didn't sleep at the hospital."

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well. I'm fine now, though."

"So where's Fabian?" Mara asked, looking up from her book.

"Still asleep. And no," I added, seeing the look in Mara's face. "We didn't _sleep together_ sleep together. He was worried about me, so he stayed until we both fell asleep."

Mara sighed. "I wish I had someone like that. But the only guys in my life are the teens I have to teach." A smile lit up her face as she thought about her joke.

"Well, I hope you find your Mr. Right," I told her truthfully. Mara deserved to have a perfectly normal, happy life and a wonderful person to share her life with.

Trudy joined in the conversation after a few minutes, and somehow we got to talking about our love lives. Mara had had five different boyfriends in the last decade, all of them a fail. Trudy for some reason still liked Victor –something she had tried to deny for our entire school career –and she was thoroughly convinced that he would one day see that she liked him.

Yuck.

After I managed to talk my way out of the conversation, I realized there was no way I could go to the library through the tunnels, so I made an excuse to leave the house. I didn't notice anyone watching me leave, and I had no idea that the person who saw me would help change the course of that night.

Eddie

I followed Nina out of the house and into the library. Why was she in here? I had watched her sneak out of Anubis House with her really big bag slung over her shoulder. I wondered what she had in there. It wasn't like her to carry such a large bag, and I had my suspicions as to what she was hiding.

As I hid behind a sarcophagus, I watched Nina pull the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis out of her bag. I knew what she was planning. Nina was going to summon Senkarah herself and give her the two artifacts all alone. Nina was willing to sacrifice herself for us.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

As silently as I could, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Fabian, who I knew I had woken up with the text.

_Get to Frobisher Library now_, I texted.

_Why_, he texted back. I could almost see his annoyed-sleepy expression in my mind. Weird.

_NOW!_ I sent a moment later. _Bring Sibuna._

_ Okay._

Now all I had to do was make sure Nina didn't do anything stupid. As I watched the Chosen One, I realized that while I had been texting Fabian, Nina had already begun to call Senkarah.

"Senkarah? I have the Cup and the Mask. You can take them now," she called out.

"Very good, Chosen One," Senkarah said, materializing in front of the girl. "But you know what I need to get to the Afterlife and become a god."

Nina nodded her head slowly. "Just promise me I can say one last thing to my friends before we go."

Senkarah considered it for a moment. "I suppose it does not matter. Soon, we shall be gods!"

"NO!" I yelled, running out from behind the sarcophagus. "Nina, don't do it!"

"Eddie?"

"Nina, no!" Fabian yelled, running inside the library, followed by the other Sibunas.

Senkarah was pissed. "What are they doing here? I thought I said only to call me when you were alone, Chosen One."

"I thought I was alone!" Nina yelled at the ghost. "I didn't ask them to come!"

"Nina, don't do this," Fabian begged. "You can't leave us, me, like this."

Nina's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I have no choice, Fabian. I'm not going to let her kill you. A world with you dead isn't a world at all."

I knew Patricia would've rolled her eyes at Nina's words if this hadn't been such a dire situation. I wanted to as well. God, Nina was such a sap. I immediately hated myself for thinking that when Senkarah possessed Nina, about to use her to open a portal to the Egyptian Afterlife.

"Finally, after centuries of waiting, the time has come!" Nina cried, but it wasn't her voice. It was Senkarah's.

"Senkarah, let her go!" I yelled, taking a step toward the angry spirit/human woman.

"I have waited for this for too long, Osirian," Senkarah cackled. "But I have promised one thing, and I do keep my promises."

Before we could ask what that one thing was, a shudder ran through Nina/Senkarah's body, sending the two to the ground. Fabian ran over to her/them, forgetting that his fiancé was possessed by an evil ghost.

"Fabian?" Senkarah asked in a scared voice. With a jolt I realized that it was Nina who was talking, not the Egyptian queen.

"Nina, you're okay," he sighed, helping her up.

"No, I'm not," she admitted. "She's still here. I can feel her in my mind." Nina shuddered, as if the thought of Senkarah in her head was repulsive. I didn't blame her. I would've shuddered too.

"Nina, love, we're going to save you," Fabian said to her, taking her hand.

Nina

"Nina, love, we're going to save you," Fabian told me, taking my hand. Just as I was about to say something, something along the lines of 'I love you' or 'I'm sorry,' Senkarah forced her way to the front of my mind, taking control.

"I think not," she laughed, yanking my hand out of Fabian's and stepping back. With a wave of our hand –odd, right –Senkarah opened the crack in the floor, unleashing a wave of bright white-blue light. I was made to put the Mask on, just as I had done over a decade ago. Senkarah sank back down inside my mind, telling me she wanted me to jump of my own free will.

_If you do not jump, I shall kill your friends while using your body_, she warned me. I paled in fright. I didn't want to watch her kill my friends, and I didn't want the last thing they ever saw to be me killing them.

I knew what I had to do.

Mouthing an 'I'm sorry' to everyone, I walked up to the edge of the portal. Slowly, I locked eyes with each of the Sibunas, my eyes catching Eddie's for a few seconds longer than the rest. He nodded, knowing what would happen if I jumped. I would die, and then he would die. But he was okay with it because he knew this was the only way to save his Patricia and my Fabian, along with the rest of our friends.

Finally my eyes caught Fabian's. He was close to tears, despair written all over his face. My heart broke into a thousand different pieces. I was the cause of his sorrow, and I wished with all my heart that I wasn't. The Fabian did something that truly shocked me.

He walked over to me and took my hand, facing the portal. What was he doing? I had to save him, and I wasn't going to be able to do that if he was at the edge of the freakin portal to the Afterlife.

"I'm not letting you go alone," Fabian said in a quiet, tender voice. "I promised I would never leave you, and I meant it."

"But Fabian . . ." I trailed off. What was I supposed to say to that?

Tears, both golden and clear, trailed from my eyes and onto the Mask. This was it. There was no way out of this now, no magic rhyme to save the day, no miracle that would suddenly occur. I was going to the Afterlife with a crazed spirit and the love of my life.

There was no turning back now.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My hand tightened around Fabian's as I counted silently to myself. Three . . . Two . . .

One.

**Cliffhanger! (I tried my hand at being a devious author. Did it work?) Anyway, new plot twist coming up, and it's not what you think, unless you're really good at guessing. Remember a certain person from season 3? You'll see them briefly, but they're not really important (and no, you're not going to see Denby. I'm not that cruel. Besides, she was better off dead. I had a veeeery interesting plan of how to get rid of her before I realized that she died at the end. *cackles evilly*).**

**Oh, and someone asked me where KT was in the story. Would you believe me if I told you I completely forgot about her and Willow? Maybe they'll be in the sequel, but I doubt it. I'll put them in a story eventually. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry I didn't update last week! I was going to post this chapter and then the power went out on the one day I could post it! And as you know, no power=no internet. Can you forgive me? I promise that the next chapter WILL be posted next week! If it isn't, you have my permission to yell at me. So, enjoy Chapter twenty: House of Afterlife.**

Chapter twenty: House of Afterlife

Nina

I felt the whoosh of the air rushing past me as I fell. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't exactly uncomfortable, either. I felt Fabian's hand still in mine, giving me the courage to open my eyes.

Colors rushed past us, a rainbow in a blink. Fabian had his eyes closed, unaware I was looking at him. I reached my free hand up and tugged the Mask of Anubis off. I was already in the Afterlife, so why did I need it? I watched as the Mask flew out of my hands and soared out of my reach.

I didn't care. That Mask had brought nothing but trouble. Once it was out of sight, I realized I didn't feel Senkarah's presence in my mind anymore. I was free of the spirit!

With the hand I had just now let go of the Mask with, I reached over and gently trailed a hand over Fabian's face. His eyes flew open, zeroing in on my face. A smile lit up his, and I knew that while we were never going to see any of our friends again, we would at least have each other. I watched Fabian mouth a small phrase, one that I repeated and meant with all my heart.

I love you.

We fell for what seemed like hours, thought I wasn't sure how long it actually was. It could've been seconds or a century, but there was no way to tell. I wondered absently if this was the entire Egyptian Afterlife; no river you need to follow to Osiris's judgment hall or whatever the Egyptians believed, just endless falling.

Then we hit the ground.

I fell on top of Fabian, getting us tangled into a confusing mess. As we struggled to get up, I heard a kindhearted laugh nearby. My head snapped up at the voice. Who was here?

I saw him then, sitting on an ornate throne. He was definitely Egyptian, that much I could tell. His eyes were lined with kohl, or ancient eyeliner –okay, so maybe it wasn't eyeliner, but it looked an awful lot like it –and he was wearing what seemed to be a skirt.

Oh, and he had blue skin.

A woman was standing beside him, and the very sight of her made Fabian tremble in fear. Who was she? Her hair was crimson red and her long dress a deathly gray, but she didn't seem all that scary to me.

"Nina Martin, how nice to meet you at last," the man said in a kind voice. "My nephew tells me you are one of the best he has ever Chosen."

I untangled myself from Fabian and we both stood up. I could tell what he was thinking. Who was this guy?

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" I asked.

The man laughed again, the sound echoing across the room. "Surely you know? I am Osiris, child."

"Osiris?" I squeaked. "As in, god of the dead Osiris?"

"Yes, Nina. Oh, and Fabian? Ammut won't hurt you. She's being kept on a . . . strict diet, I suppose you would call it," Osiris added, gesturing to the woman.

She was Ammut? I was expecting something a little . . . scarier. I mean, she was the Devourer of Souls for crying out loud! Osiris started speaking again, pulling my attention away from Ammut.

"Nina, Fabian, why have you come into my domain? You are not dead."

"Um," I started. "Well, there was this ghost who marked me with the Mark of Anubis and–" I was cut off.

"ANUBIS!" Osiris shouted. "Get in here now!"

A teenage boy with warm chocolate eyes and hair that looked exactly like Fabian's came into the judgment hall. He was dressed like Osiris, though a little less extreme with the kohl, and he wasn't blue. "Hello, uncle."

"Why was a ghost able to use your mark?"

My eyebrows rose high as I realized this young guy was Anubis, the god of funerals. Was this some kind of joke? I watched as Anubis bowed his head in shame.

"Senkarah must have escaped," the god said dejectedly. "I should have had the others keeping a closer eye on her. I am sorry, and it shall never happen again." He raised his head back up and took a quick glance around the room. That's when he noticed me.

"Oh, hello Nina Martin," Anubis said cheerfully. "I did not see you there. How have your duties been going? Have you rediscovered the Mask and the Cup?"

"Yes," I said, unsure how to respond. This was Anubis, the guy who had Chosen me for my destiny!

"Uncle, surely we can send them back to their realm?" Anubis asked Osiris. "They are not dead, and they do not belong here."

"You are right," Osiris said after a few seconds' thought. "Ammut, will you be a dear and help me?"

Fabian spoke up then. "Um, sir? Can you please not do that? I mean no disrespect, but she did steal my soul for a short time."

Osiris sighed. "Never mind, Ammut. Anubis? Help me take these young humans back home."

The two gods walked over and stood in front of Fabian and me. I was freaking out. I had met two, count 'em, TWO ancient Egyptian gods in one day, and they just happened to be the two who had Chosen my destiny. How was I supposed to react when Anubis grabbed my arm and Osiris grabbed hold of Fabian's?

A light shone around us, a feeling of flying overcoming me. It was peaceful and enjoyable, fun and exhilarating. When the flying sensation stopped, all four of us were standing in the Frobisher Library, just behind a group of four crying Sibunas.

Anubis let go of my arm and whispered that I might need to comfort them, especially Eddie. He was my protector, after all. So I did what I was told to do and walked over to my Osirian, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He glanced up at me, muttering "Thanks Nina." Then he realized what he said and saw.

"Nina! Fabian!" he shouted, making everyone turn around.

"And two mysterious guys," Alfie noted.

"Wait," Eddie said, looking at Osiris. "I know you. How do I know you?"

"Eddison Miller, long have I awaited this moment," Osiris said in a kind voice. I was starting to think that was his only voice. "I am Osiris, god of the dead. You are my chosen vessel for good in this world. You are the one I have chosen as the protector of the Paragon, the Chosen One of Anubis."

"That would be me," Anubis added, making Amber laugh.

"Um, okay," Eddie said stupidly. "Why are you here?"

"To give the good news and a reward," Osiris said to him. "Senkarah has been trapped in the Afterlife again, but this time she has been sentenced to eternity in the flaming lake."

A small cheer erupted from the Sibunas as we heard this. She's gone for good! Osiris held up a hand to stop us.

"Eddison, Nina, if you will step over here with me," he said, walking away from the group. Eddie and I followed him, wondering what was going on.

"It has come to my attention that you have protected the Mask of Anubis and the Cup of Ankh from evil not only once, but twice. Not only that, but you have risked your lives to save those closest to you. I have a reward for you, one that many would –and have –killed for," Osiris began.

"Uncle, surely you do not mean . . ." Anubis trailed off.

"That is exactly what I mean, Anubis. Nina Martin, Eddison Miller, I am offering you immortality," Osiris said, holding his hand out. On his palm, I saw a golden mark, but it wasn't of the Jackal. It looked like the Eye of Horus. Anubis held out his hand, too, showing us the Mark of the Jackal, gold instead of black.

I looked at Eddie. Did I want eternal life? I had spent years trying to stop people who wanted it and now I was being offered it? Did I really want to live forever? I looked over at Eddie, who had a deep-in-thought expression on his face. I could tell he was leaning toward accepting it, as was I. It would be cool to live forever, as long as no one got hurt. As I was about to say yes, I happened to look over at Fabian, who shot me a smile. I turned to the godly duo, a question on my lips.

"Do they get the reward, too?"

"No," Osiris said, his tone saying he was shocked I would even ask. "This is a gift we do not hand out lightly. You have exceeded our expectations and we feel you deserve a reward."

"What kind of reward is staying the same while the love of my life grows old and dies?" I demanded. "No thank you. Senkarah being tortured for eternity is the only reward I need." Without another word, I spun on my heel and walked back over to the now-happy Sibunas.

"I second that," Eddie growled and stormed off, following my lead.

In a flash of angry red light, the two gods appeared in front of us.

"You dare refuse our gift?" Osiris demanded.

"It's not a gift if it means I'll lose the ones I love!" I shouted. "Now I've fulfilled my destiny, so you can take this back," I added, ripping the locket from around my neck and throwing it at Anubis.

The younger god gently handed it back, ignoring my protests. "Paragon, Chosen One, your destiny will never be fulfilled. Many will come and go, retaking the same steps you have, but not all have what you do: friends who will risk everything to help you and the courage to stand up to the gods. Uncle, let us take our leave."

Osiris glared at Eddie and me, and then snapped his fingers and both he and Anubis vanished in a puff of gold smoke. I looked at Eddie, shock clear in my eyes. He just laughed, pulling me to the Sibunas.

"Nina, love, what happened?" Fabian asked, placing an arm around my shoulder. "I heard shouting."

"I think I just yelled at a god," I said, my voice betraying my disbelief.

"You what?" Patricia and Amber said in unison.

"Yeah," Eddie laughed. "She went off on Osiris like she didn't even care he was a god. It was impressive to watch."

"What did he say to you to make you so angry?" Fabian asked me in a low voice.

"He offered Eddie and me immortality," I told everyone, "but we didn't take it."

"Why not?" Alfie asked. "You'd get to live forever!"

"That was the problem," I said. "You guys wouldn't get the reward too. Eddie and I would stay like this forever and you guys would get older and eventually die, and we would be lonely forever."

Fabian pulled me closer to him and led us all out of the library, everyone stunned at the events of today. We had defeated Senkarah permanently and met two gods, ticking one of them off.

I was going to be in some _deep _crap when I died.

** Um, I was originally going to have a huge fight between Nina and Senkarah, but somehow this ended up happening. Anyway, Osiris getting ticked plays a huge part in the sequel (there's a teaser for ya!).**

** Did any of you watch the Touchstone of Ra? OMA! (Spoiler alert) I cannot believe they killed the Osirian! When it started and Eddie's voice said "This is the day the Osirian died" I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. I actually thought they were going to kill Eddie! But they didn't. **

** Just out of curiosity, if they do make a season four –which isn't very likely –do you think it'll be in Anubis House, or will it follow Sibuna? I hope that they do make a season four that follows Sibuna in college, resulting in Fabina getting back together, because Mabian does NOT need to exist, in my oh-so-humble opinion. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	21. Chapter 21

**It's ridiculously early to be updating -1:05 a.m. to be exact -but tomorrow -well. today really- my sis is getting married and I want to post House of Wedding next week, so enjoy this middle of the night update! This is also the final chapter. You guys have been fantastic readers that I think the world of. Thank you for reading my first ever story, and enjoy Chapter 21: House of Re-Prom.**

* * *

Chapter twenty-one: House of Re-Prom

Nina

"Amber!" I laughed. "That looks almost exactly like my prom dress!"

"That's the idea, Nina," she said, holding the black ensemble up to me. "The theme is Re-Prom, so you have to wear something like your old prom dress."

It was the day after we stopped Senkarah, the day after Osiris tried to offer Eddie and me immortality, the last day of the Anubis House reunion. I wasn't looking forward to the end of the reunion, but I knew I couldn't stay forever, even though I wanted to.

I sighed. "There's no way out of this, is there?"

Amber laughed. "Nope! Now let me do your makeup. You're still horrible at it. Promise me you'll call me to help with your wedding, okay? I don't want you looking bad when you walk down the aisle."

After rolling my eyes, I promised. She wouldn't shut up unless I gave her what she wanted. I went to the bathroom and slipped the dress on. It was a black, knee-length gown, made of tulle and satin, but that's where the resemblance to my prom dress ended. The neckline was much lower than my other dress, and instead of long-sleeves there were straps. On the center of the dress, where the tulle and the satin met, there was a glittery belt of purple going around the dress. I walked out of the bathroom, embarrassed out of my mind.

Amber squealed when she saw me. "You look amazing! Now let me fix your hair." For the next hour, Amber fought with my hair to keep it under control. She finally got it to behave, even styling it into a wavy curtain behind my back. Then she moved onto my makeup. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy during the application.

When Amber was done, she turned me around to face the mirror. I loved what she had done with the makeup. She had applied a shimmery pink gloss onto my lips, and a sparkly purple eye shadow over my eyelids. Amber finished the look with a hint of glittery blush across my cheeks. While glitter and sparkles weren't my normal thing, I had to admit I looked good. Amber then asked me how she looked.

I hadn't noticed, but while I was looking at my reflection Amber had done her own makeup. She went all out with the glitter, so much so that even her mascara had silver flecks in it. She looked great, but she still looked like Amber. Her dress was almost the exact one she had for prom, but there was a difference. This dress was strapless, whereas the other one had one sleeve, the other side bare. Amber looked amazing.

When she decided we were done, she let me go outside our room. We walked down the hall, through the door, and down the stairs. I saw a few guys standing around the base of the steps, all of them in tuxes. I laughed as I saw Alfie with Kelly, trying to show her a last-minute magic trick.

She dogged him as he pulled a bouquet of fake flowers out of his sleeve. She was obviously used to Alfie's pranks if she knew the flowers were dangerous. I had learned the hard way they were full of water, ready to spray.

Then I caught sight of Fabian.

He looked amazing in his solid black tux, and I was shocked when I saw he had on a purple tie. I knew Amber probably made him wear it. When he saw me his eyes lit up, his face morphing into an expression of delight and shock. Why was he surprised? Did I look bad? Amber laughed when she saw my concerned expression.

"He thinks you look wonderful," she whispered to me, descending the staircase and walking over to Jerome. He looked nice as well, but Fabian had the other guys beat.

"Hey, Fabian," I said with a smile as I was about to step off the stairs.

"Nina," he acknowledged, holding out his hand to help me. I took his hand with grace, what little I could muster up. I was still ungraceful, much to Amber's annoyance.

When we got to the school, Amber surprised us with the decorations. She had everything exactly the way it had been that night, right down to the banner over the stage, the words 'King' and 'Queen' written on it in huge purple letters. I looked over at Eddie, who was looking around in wonder.

"Not how I pictured it," he said, making us all laugh. Once we were all inside, Amber turned on the music, to which most everyone danced.

Fabian and I stood at the edge of the room, holding each other's hand. Now that Senkarah was gone again, and we were sure she was never coming back, we were just staying in the background. I liked being able to see everyone having fun, but I wasn't about to join them on the dance floor. Fabian, it seemed, wasn't about to, either.

After about an hour after the dance started, Amber walked onto stage. She tapped the microphone, releasing a loud squeal that hurt everyone's ears. After the noise faded, she smiled at the group.

"Well, everyone," she smiled, "we're back! I can't tell you how happy I am to be here, but I want you to know this has been the best week I've had in a long time. Now, onto the Re-Prom King and Queen." Amber held up an envelope, which supposedly had the results inside. Once she opened the letter, she squealed, deafening us yet again.

"The Re-Prom king is . . ." she said slowly "Fabian Rutter!"

Fabian walked slowly up onto the stage, sitting down on the gold-painted chair under the 'King' side of the banner. Amber handed him a plastic, gold-colored crown, which he put on, the rim pushing his hair back a little.

Amber continued reading the results, squealing yet again. "The Re-Prom Queen is . . . Nina Martin!"

I blushed as I walked up on the stage, looking at the other residents of Anubis House. They were cheering for me and Fabian, which shocked me. We weren't exactly the couple Amber and Jerome were, or even Patricia and Eddie.

Amber handed me a tiara made of gold plastic, which I placed on my head, hoping I didn't look stupid. I sat down on the chair under the 'Queen' side of the banner, right next to Fabian. He smiled sheepishly at me and mouthed 'Sorry.' I laughed. What did he have to be sorry for? We were just two grown people getting elected as the Re-Prom court. Nothing weird about that at all.

The music started playing again, and, just like the last prom, Amber mouthed 'dance you two.' Fabian and I stood awkwardly, me placing my arms around his neck, him placing his hands on my waist. We swayed to the music for a little while, until I finally spoke up.

"That was embarrassing," I laughed.

Fabian laughed back. "Yeah . . . very."

I laughed again, realizing this was the same conversation we had last time we were in this situation. Fabian looked at me, happiness and hope in his eyes.

"Nina," he began. "You look–"

"I look ridiculous," I finished, reciting what I had said over ten years ago. Fabian laughed.

"We've had this conversation before, Nina. I was going to say beautiful."

I smiled. "Why did you just call me beautiful? Is it because this is Re-Prom and you want it to be just like last time, or is it because you actually mean it?"

Fabian laughed, a smile lighting his face. ""I mean it. You look beautiful, Nina."

We swayed to the music for a little while longer, just dancing, before Fabian spoke up.

"So, why didn't you accept immortal life? You'd never age, never die. You'd look this way forever," he said. "Why would you turn that down?"

"Because forever isn't forever without the ones you love," I said. "And I'm not spending forever without you."

What I didn't know was that while I was speaking, Amber had accidentally turned on the microphone, so everyone heard what I had said. I blushed as all of the girls said "Awwwww" and all of the guys just smiled at Fabian and I. Eddie sent me a wink that meant "Good line."

I watched as he turned to Patricia, and I could tell what he was saying. I was getting really good at reading lips.

"I feel the same way about you," he whispered to her. "I didn't want to spend forever knowing I had left you behind. I couldn't do that. I love you."

Patricia smiled and grabbed him in a hug, and everyone in the room laughed. Patricia was still as heartfelt as a cactus, but she had her moments. Once the 'awwwww's were out of the way, Amber made us all sit down in chairs on the floor, meaning she needed Fabian and Jerome to take the king and queen chairs off the stage.

"Now," she said when we were all sitting, "I know you're wondering what's going on, because this definitely didn't happen last time, but bear with me. I've made a little video for us, which you'll all get a copy of at the end of the dance." She popped a disk into a computer that was set up in front of the stage, which was hooked up to a projector. Once she had everything set up, Amber hit play.

Everyone laughed at the first picture on the video. It was one we had taken on graduation day, the one where the guys were dipping their girlfriends like we were all dancing, which I think was Amber's point. Fabian and I looked ridiculous, but I like the picture. It was funny and light-hearted, just like everyone at the house.

The video went through several different pictures, each portraying a different Anubis resident, both in school and now. Everyone seemed to be liking the video, myself included. Then my picture was next. Oh joy.

Fabian

Nina's pictures were up next. I saw the look in her eyes when I glanced over at her and I had to bite back a laugh. She looked like she wanted to say sarcastically "Oh joy" and pull the plug from the projector. I grasped her hand, meeting her eyes. She saw the look of calmness in mine, which I hoped would make her calm down as well.

The pictures finally came up onscreen, showing the girl I fell in love with. In her past photo, she was a teenager with no idea how her life would turn out, but she looked confident and ready to meet life head on. The second picture, the now photo, showed much the same thing. Nina still looked ready to take life and make what she wanted out of it, but she had a smile that said she knew what she was doing and she wasn't afraid to show it.

I smiled as the rest of the comparison pictures played. Everyone looked so different now, something I hadn't noticed when I saw them a week ago. Amber had the next set of photos as past and now couples. Her and Alfie were up first, separating into her-Jerome and Alfie-Kelly. Next was Jerome and Mara, with no now picture after it. Mara was still single, and she already had an Amber-Jerome picture.

Next was Eddie and Patricia's turn. We all laughed when we saw the past photo. It was the one of Eddie pretending to drop Patricia, and the now one was the retake they had made the first day of the reunion.

Last was Nina's and my picture. The first one was of us hugging after graduation, when Amber had shoved us together, and the second one was of us after I had just gotten Nina out of the chamber underneath the school. I'd had no idea that Amber had taken that picture. In it, I looked kind and happy, but it was Nina who looked amazing. Her hair had fallen just so over her shoulder, making it look deliberate. Her eyes were full of gratitude and relief, her face portraying overwhelming joy. The only thing that made the picture less-than-perfect was the tip of the Mark of Anubis on Nina's arm, which you could see because her sleeve was rolled up just a little.

I heard Mara whisper to Jerome "I didn't know Nina had a tattoo." I almost laughed. I wanted to tell her she didn't, but I knew she wouldn't believe me.

The pictures went on to show our jobs, which Amber had posed us for. Again, the photos were in alphabetical order. Alfie was holding a microphone in his hand while smirking at the camera, a banner in the background stating that "Alfie Alfredo" was performing.

Amber was holding a camera in her picture, aiming it right at the camera taking her picture. I could tell she had spent a while posing herself just right. Eddie was sitting Frobisher's study for his photo, which shocked me. Not everyone knew about the study. In the photo, Eddie was pretending to type on his computer while giving a concentrated-proud look at the screen.

In my picture, I was standing half-inside one of the sarcophagi in the hall, a joyful look on my face, as though I had just found something important. For his photo, Jerome was standing in a class room, a business suit on. He looked lawyer-y, what with the stern look on his face and the way he held himself. Mara was in front of a different class room, the board behind her filled with complex math equations.

Patricia was standing in front of an easel for her job photo, holding a paintbrush and one of those paint-holder-things. She was giving the canvas a kind-yet-determined look, as though she could paint the picture with her will. I had to say, for our resident Goth pixie, Patricia was a good artist.

Nina's picture captured the spirit she had while she worked. She had a pen behind her ear, and she was giving her computer such a concentrated look that I was almost shocked the thing wasn't quivering in terror. There was a small tape recorder on the table beside her, something she uses in all of her interviews. I knew that my Nina was the one who posed herself in the photo. She was too Nina in the picture not to have. I could tell from the look on Amber's face that I was right.

The last picture on the video surprised me. Just before the picture showed up on screen, in huge pink letters the words "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" were written. The picture was of Nina and me again, this time of when Amber had me re-propose so she could get a picture. I wasn't much to look at in the picture, though. I was just on my knee holding a ring over Nina's finger.

Nina was what the photo was centered around. She was almost crying, her eyes sparkling like the diamond on her finger with unshed tears. I knew she was happy, not sad, and that the tears were from the overwhelming feeling we had both felt.

She was beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, special, and many other things I couldn't even begin to say. But most of all, Nina was mine, and that wasn't going to change. I felt like the luckiest person on earth when I looked over at her and saw her smile. Nina was smiling at me, and I was always going to love her for that.

After the video was over, everyone congratulated Amber on her work. She had spent every free moment in the last three days working on finishing the video for us, and it showed. Once everyone had calmed down, Amber stood on stage.

"Time for one last dance!" she announced. "Would the king and queen please come up here for the last dance?"

I laughed at the shocked look on Nina's face when Amber said that. She had honestly thought Amber had forgotten we were the king and queen? I knew the blonde would use any excuse to get us together in public, even if she had to use force like she did at graduation.

Once Nina and I were on stage again, we put our arms around each other and danced to the music. I was happier than I had been in a long time, especially over the last week. We had been through more than our fair share of troubles in the last week, but the mysteries were what made Anubis House, well, Anubis House. I knew we needed a little near-death situation to make the reunion like the old days. After a few more minutes of dancing, I spoke up.

"What did you think of the last picture?" I asked.

Nina laughed. "It was beautiful. I think I'm gonna ask Amber if she'll print it out so we can keep it."

I smiled. "I was thinking the same thing. So, when shall we invite everyone to the big day?"

"No time like the present. We're not immortal, you know," Nina joked, reaching for the microphone. "Can I have your attention?" she said into the small speaker. "We have an announcement! We would like all of you to come to our wedding next month! We'll hand out the invitations after the dance if anyone wants to come. Thank you."

She placed the microphone back onto the stand. When everyone calmed down again, we went back to dancing. I had no idea what the song was, but it sounded like the one we had first danced to at prom. I promised myself to ask Amber what the song was called so I could get it for the wedding.

After an hour more, it was time to leave the stage and the dance floor. I could tell no one wanted the reunion to be over, but I had one last surprise announcement for everyone.

I rushed over to the microphone and turned it on, shocking everyone. They all knew how I felt about talking in front of a lot of people. When I gave my little speech, I knew there were at least two people, maybe three, who were completely confused.

"I just wanted to say that I missed you guys over the last decade. I missed my fellow Sibunas and the mysteries we solved. College didn't feel like school to me because there were no life-threatening challenges we had to overcome as a group. I know our time as Sibuna is over, but I am glad I was able to share one last mystery with you all. Sibuna!" I ended, placing my right hand over my right eye.

Alfie, Amber, Patricia, Eddie, and, of course, Nina copied my motion, shouting "SIBUNA!" I laughed at Mara and Kelly's completely confused expressions and Jerome's slightly confused one. He knew about Sibuna, but he didn't know about the recent mystery.

"Come on," I said as we were leaving, "let's go. The Sibuna reunion has come to an end."

Nina laughed. "Once a Sibuna, always a Sibuna. I'm never going to forget our time here, not even if I forget everything else."

Eddie

We walked back to the house, everyone following Nina and Fabian. Alfie and I laughed when we heard Mara and Kelly both asking Patricia "What's Sibuna?"

"It's not you," she sneered. "We don't accept more than one geek or fashion queen at a time, thank you."

"Well, if you're going to be rude," Kelly said walking away, pulling Mara along. I laughed at them, wondering if they would ever know the truth. Probably not, I decided as we opened the door to the house.

When my hand brushed the door, I was pulled into a vision, my last vision.

"_Sibuna?" a little girl asked, looking up at Patricia. "What's Sibuna?"_

_Patricia smiled. "Well, Sibuna was a club that was started by Aunt Nina when she was in school. We solved mysteries and saved the world every term for years, and once more when we went for a reunion eight years ago."_

"_What was this?" the little girl asked, holding her hand over her eye._

_Patricia laughed. "That was our signal, our sign. It meant Sibuna." Patricia copied the girl's movement. "We would use it at the end of our meetings."_

"_Cool!" the little girl said. I watched as the door opened and Nina and Fabian walked through, a different little girl in front of them. The two children ran off, yelling "Sibuna" as loud as they could, holding their hands in front of their right eye._

_Nina laughed, coming over to give me a hug. "They're so cute, aren't they, Osirian?"_

_I had no idea what to say, but my voice worked anyway. "Yeah, they are. I'm so glad our kids get along."_

"_Me too," Fabian said. "And Tori doesn't like anyone."_

"_It's because she knows who she's playing with," Nina said. "She's playing with the daughter of the greatest Osirian ever."_

_Patricia laughed. "Hey, you have a husband. Don't try to steal mine."_

_I smiled at her words. Patricia and I were married and we had a little girl. Nina and Fabian had a little girl, too. This was the perfect life, the best life anyone could ask for._

I smiled as the house blossomed into view. In eight years we would be okay, and I would be married to the love of my life. It would be the perfect life. I saw Patricia look over at me, seeing the smile on my face.

"What?" she asked, grabbing my hand.

"I had a vision," I said.

"What was it about?" Nina and Patricia demanded at the same time. I laughed.

"Us," I told them. "You two, Fabian, and me. We were all happy and we were still close to each other. Patricia was explaining to a little girl about Sibuna and Nina and Fabian came in with another little girl. It was perfect." I smiled again.

Nina made a small sound of elation and hugged Fabian, who seemed surprised but pleased all the same. Patricia turned to me, a question in her eyes.

"So did you mean what you said earlier? About why you gave up immortality?" she asked.

I smiled at her. "Yeah, I did. I love you, Patricia, and I don't ever want to have to leave you. I want the future I saw with you, and I want you to be happy for the rest of your life."

Instead of answering, Patricia kissed me, which was a huge shock. I could tell she was thrilled and delighted, which wasn't something she was very often. I kissed her back, and we stood there for what seemed like forever, overjoyed and ecstatic about our probable happy future.

Third Person POV

The old residents of Anubis House were so glad they had come to the reunion, even the ones who had their lives threatened so many times over the week. Not all of them had a perfect view of their future, but even so, none of them worried about what might come. The future was for tomorrow, not for today. The Sibunas knew that while their adventures might have been over, that didn't mean that future generations wouldn't have any mysteries to solve to save the world. Everyone went down separate paths, but one thing stayed the same. Anubis House would always have a spot in their hearts.

Always.

* * *

***sniffles* Crap, it's over. I loved writing this story, though at times it seemed impossible –this is the first multiple-chapter story I have ever finished writing –but with the nice reviews you guys posted, I knew I had to make it through this. **

**But never fear, dear readers, for I have the sequel coming shortly. Just look for it next week under my profile. It's gonna be called House of Wedding, and the cover photo will be the dress you guys chose for Nina. (I couldn't figure out how to put a link or something to the picture, so this is all you'll get. Sorry.) **

**Just remember, dear readers, that YOU have made this story possible. Love ya lots and thanks for reading!**

**~C**


End file.
